While not all of these families were from the lands of the Elector Palatine, modern day Rheinland/Pfalz, they were from that general region and became known as “Palatines.”

As the good folks of London were in no way prepared for such an onslaught, temporary camps were set up around the city and families were even housed in warehouses. Those migrants who would not swear to being Protestant were sent back to the Rhineland. Still not able to house all these people and unable to provide shipping to the colonies, it was arranged with English landlords in Ireland that some families would be sent to Ireland to help with their plantations, especially in the south and west.

Though over 3,000 people, over 800 families, were moved to Ireland, many chose not to stay on their new lands and continued their journey to the British colonies. Ultimately, one landlord in Ireland, Lord Southwell, settled the majority of the families on his estate in central County Limerick. Later, as families grew and rents were no longer subsidized by the Crown, the Palatines began to disburse to a wider area in Munster. In 1760 a shipload went to the colony of New York. Sixteen years later, during the American Revolution, many served as Loyalists against the American colonials and, at the conclusion of this conflict, moved on to Canada. Many others later left Ireland and moved to the U.S., Australia, Canada and many other countries.

ALTON/ALTIMES/ALTIMUS

ASBAGH

BAKER/BECKER

BARKLOITNE

BARKMAN/BARTMAN

BARRABAN

BEEVER

BENNER

BERG/BERGE

BERNER/BEARNEY

BICKERIN

BISHERNE

BOLLER

BONUS

BOVENIZER/BUBENHAUSER

BOWEN

BOWER

BREDHOUR

BROUGH

CAVE

CLOSTERBECKER

COLE

COOKE

CORNEILLE

CRIPPS

CRONSBERRY

CROUSE

CROW/CROWE

DELMEGE/DOLMAGE

DOUPE/DAUB

EMBURY/IMBURGER

EVERETT

FILME

FITZELLE/FIZZELL

FOCK/FOUGHT

FOLKER

GLAIZER/GLAZIER/GLEASURE

GOLLIDAY

GREEN

GROUSE

Irish Palatine family names include the following with many variations in the spelling:

GUIER HARTRICK/HARTWICK

HEAVENOR

HECK

HESS

HIBLER/HIFLE

HOFFMAN

HOLBACH

HOOPF

HOOST

HORNICK/HORN

JEKYLL/JEAKLE

JACOBUS/JACOB

JOHAN

KIRKHOVER

KLEIN/KLINE

KONIG/KONING

KOUGH/COOKE

LAMBERT

LAURENCE/LORENTZ

LEGEAR

LODWICK/LUDWIG

LONG

LOWE/LOWES

LOWER

LUDOLF/LUDOLT

MEYER/MYERS

MICK

MILLER

MODLER

NEAZOR

NITCHBURNE

PAUL

PIPER

POFF

POOLE

RAPPLE

REAL/RUHL

REESSNAGH/RUFENACHT

RHINEHART

RICHARDT/RICHARD

RODENBECKER

ROSINE/ROSEN

ROSS/ROSE

RUTTLE

RYLING/REULING

RYNARD

RYNER

SCHMIDT/SMYTH

SCHULTZ/SULTZ

SHALLAS

SHEAFER

SHEARMAN

SHIMMEL

SHIRE/SHIER

SHOEMAKER

SHONEWEISS

SHOULDICE

SIEBERT

SINGER

SMELTZER

SNITZERLLING

SPARLING

STALER

STEEBLE

STEEPE

STEEVELL

STENGEL/STINGILL

ST.JOHN

STORK/STARK

STROSSER

STROUD

SWARTZ

SWITZER

TESKEY

TETTLER/DETLOR

TYSE/TWISS

USHELBAUGH

WALTER

WEISS/WISE

WENTZ

WOLF

WRITER/RIETER

YOUNG

ZIGLER.

From Patrick J. O’Connor; People Make Places: The Story of the Irish Palatines; Oireacht na Mumhan Books, Newcastle West, Co. Limerick; 1989. While there were settlements across Ireland, the major settlements were in County Limerick on the estate of Thomas Southwell.

Perhaps you recognize an ancestral name of your family. If not, we would encourage you to check such sources as the Irish Palatine Association or the book by Hank Z. Jones, Palatine Families of Ireland. If you don’t already know of your Irish Palatine ancestry, you might be surprised.

In addition to Jones’ book, you will find a great deal of information on the Palatines in the classic discussion, Early Eighteenth Century Palatine Emigration: A British Government Redemptioner Project to Manufacture Naval Stores, by Walter Allen Knittle, Ph.D., Philadelphia, 1937.

For a broader connection to Irish Palatines all over the world, join IPA. Located in Rathkeale, County Limerick, Ireland, in the heart of the original Palatine settlements, the Irish Palatine Association provides information, connections and events related to the Irish Palatine experience.