Toomey, Kathleen

English

In 1802, Edward Fraser of Relig, the Customs Collector in Inverness,
commented on the numerous emigrations, especially from the Western Highlands and
the Isles, which had taken place from about the year 1770. In his essay, he noted, in
particular, the data concerning Roman Catholics who had quit their native soil in
numbers far out of proportion to their total within the general population. Fraser
suggested as causes: an anti-Catholic bias, conflict between the landowners and the
Catholic clergy and the restrictive measures of the Penal Laws.

With the above analysis in mind, this thesis seeks to address the specific issue
of Roman Catholic emigration from the area in the Highlands known as the "Catholic
Bounds", between 1770 - 1810. The fIrst section of the work delineates the "Catholic
Bounds", in a geographical and societal sense, with emphasis placed on the leading
Catholic families and the ecclesiastical formation of the Highland Vicariate from
1732.

The second section concerns the various emigrations which took place from
1772 - 1810. For the sake of clarity, these have been arranged chronologically and
geographically, the latter reflecting more the contours of the great estates of, for
example, Clanranald or Glengarry, where the majority of the Roman Catholics lived,
rather than flXed territorial designations. In order to test the accuracy of Fraser's
comments, the underlying reasons for each of these mass removals of people will be
noted. The role of the clergy is developed by means of biographical sketches of each
of the priests who emigrated with their people, and they form a necessary, and
sometimes, a major, component of these chapters. The thesis also seeks to examine
the role of the clergy in general, but especially that of the bishops, whether as active
participants, instigators or observers

Edinburgh Research Archive

Emigration from the Scottish Catholic bounds, 1770-1810 and the role of the clergy

https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/1842/6795/1/524685.pdf

Emigration from the Scottish Catholic bounds 1770-1810 and the role of the clergy

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Edinburgh Research Archive