Search for an Irish slaveholder by name here or search the map below
African Americans in Irish slaveholder records 1670-1865
As African American families research their family trees, they have identified Irish names in their families, Irish names among those who enslaved their families and even Irish genetic ancestry when they undergo DNA testing. Equally, Irish people have begun to identify African American cousins through DNA testing. This points to a large unexplored history. Enslavement to citizenship is a public history project which seeks to identify Irish slaveholders and overseers in the U.S.A. but more importantly to find the names of African American families hidden in the records of Irish slaveholders prior to 1865. This project is dedicated to making it easier for African American families to access information about their ancestors, so that families can be reunited.
As African American families research their family trees, they have identified Irish names in their families, Irish names among those who enslaved their families and even Irish genetic ancestry when they undergo DNA testing. Equally, Irish people have begun to identify African American cousins through DNA testing. This points to a large unexplored history. Enslavement to citizenship is a public history project which seeks to identify Irish slaveholders and overseers in the U.S.A. but more importantly to find the names of African American families hidden in the records of Irish slaveholders prior to 1865. This project is dedicated to making it easier for African American families to access information about their ancestors, so that families can be reunited.
This map is 'live'. Please 'click' on any of the tags for further information. Green tags indicate an Irish-born slaveholder with a known place of birth. Blue tags indicate an Irish-born slaveholder with a place of birth which is unknown or unclear at this time.
Data compiled by Martine Brennan M.A., Ireland:
from Wills, Probate Records, U.S. Federal Census Returns, Fugitive Advertisements, Private Letters, Scholarly articles, books and blogs.
Data compiled by Martine Brennan M.A., Ireland:
from Wills, Probate Records, U.S. Federal Census Returns, Fugitive Advertisements, Private Letters, Scholarly articles, books and blogs.
As of Oct 2021, this project has identified more than 200 Irish slaveholders in South Carolina alone. The final number will be far higher.
Further information will be added periodically so please keep coming back.
African Americans in Irish slaveholder records blog
www.enslavement-to-citizenship.com/african-americans-in-irish-slaveholder-records-blog
Not every Irish man and woman who found their way to North America before 1862 became a slaveholder. However a number of their children did. A second blog has been added to give information about Irish descendant slaveholders.
Irish descendant slaveholders
www.enslavement-to-citizenship.com/irish-descendant-slaveholders
Further information will be added periodically so please keep coming back.
African Americans in Irish slaveholder records blog
www.enslavement-to-citizenship.com/african-americans-in-irish-slaveholder-records-blog
Not every Irish man and woman who found their way to North America before 1862 became a slaveholder. However a number of their children did. A second blog has been added to give information about Irish descendant slaveholders.
Irish descendant slaveholders
www.enslavement-to-citizenship.com/irish-descendant-slaveholders
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Irish-born in South Carolina (by county) 1850 Abbeville 242 Anderson 57 Barnwell 31 Beaufort 38 Charleston 2,577 Chester 215 Chesterfield 12 Colleton 15 Darlington 7 Edgefield 103 Fairfield 262 Georgetown 5 Greenville 65 Hampton 0 Horry 2 Kershaw 15 Lancaster 23 Laurens 47 Lexington 4 Marion 0 Marleboro 2 Newberry 30 Orangeburg 13 Pickens 18 Richland 216 Spartanburg 44 Sumter 40 Union 77 Williamsburg 1 York 143 Source: 1850 U.S. Federal Census, Irish-born, South Carolina. Family Search (2020) (https://bit.ly/31jIkGs) (accessed 23 March 2020). Table created by Martine Brennan. |
Irish-Born by State in the South 1850 Alabama ~3,746 Arkansas ~513 Delaware ~3,474 Florida ~873 Georgia ~3,869 Kentucky ~9,746 Louisiana ~25,152 Maryland ~19,456 Mississippi ~2,017 Missouri ~32,645 North Carolina ~619 South Carolina ~4,223 Tennessee ~2,724 Texas ~1,388 Virginia ~12,017 Source: 1850 U.S. Federal Census, Irish-born, Name of State. Family Search (2020 (www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1401638) (accessed 8 Feb 2021). Table created by Martine Brennan. 
'He'd better go a little slow, my father was an Irishman' reported in 1883 in Missouri when the speaker made fun of Irish people to an African American audience.
Sedalia Weekly Bazoo 7 Aug 1883
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Enslavement to citizenship: African Americans in Irish Slaveholder records by Martine Brennan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.