aces
in this vicinity and on the rosters of the troops enrolled for the
Indian war, Irishmen are recorded, and we learn from the records that
not a few of them were important and useful men, active in the
development of the settlements, and often chosen as selectmen or
representatives. On the minutes of the meetings of the selectmen of
Pelham, Spencer, Sutton, Charlestown, Canton, Scituate, Stoughton,
Salem, Amesbury, Stoneham, and other Massachusetts towns, Irish names
are recorded many years before the Revolution. In local histories
these people are usually called "Scotch-Irish," a racial misnomer
that has been very much overworked by a certain class of historical
writers who seem to be unable to understand that a non-Catholic
native of Ireland can be an Irishman. In an exhaustive study of
American history, I cannot find any other race where such a
distinction is drawn as in the case of the non-Catholic, or so-called
"Scotch," Irish. In many instances, this hybrid racial designation
obviously springs from prejudice and a desire to withhold from
Ireland any credit that may belong to her, although, in some cases,
the writers are genuinely mistaken in their belief that the Scotch as
a race are the antithesis of the Irish and that whatever commendable
qualities the non-Catholic Irish are possessed of naturally spring
from the Scotch.

* * * * *

The first recorded Irish settlement in Maine was made by families
named Kelly and Haley from Galway, who located on the Isles of Shoals
about the year 1653. In 1692, Roger Kelly was a representative from
the Isles to the General Court of Massachusetts, and is described in
local annals as "King of the Isles." The large number of islands,
bays, and promontories on the Maine coast bearing distinctive Celtic
names attests the presence and influence of Irish people in this
section in colonial times. In 1720, Robert Temple from Cork brought
to Maine five shiploads of people, mostly from the province of
Munster. They landed at the junction of the Kennebec and Eastern
rivers, where they established the town of Cork, which, however,
after a precarious existence of only six years, was entirely
destroyed by the Indians. For nearly a century the place was
familiarly known to the residents of the locality as "Ireland." The
records of York, Lincoln, and Cumberland counties contain references
to large numbers of Irish people who settled in those localities
duri