Distribution of McCorkells in Donegal 1700's

At the end of the 18th century numbers of McCorkells in Donegal have increased little over the previous century, I can find 10 households in the Flax Growers bounty list for the county in 1796, a further 2 households appear for County Tyrone and 4 for county Londonderry. Of the 4 that appear for Londonderry 2 are from the Templemore Parish which had land in both Donegal and Londonderry so these families may have well been living in Donegal.

The small increase in the family name over a hundred year period can probably be attributed to a couple of factors, All the records I have found from this time suggest the family was Presbyterian, they would have suffered under the established church as Dissenters.

Some members of the family along with thousands of other Presbyterian's would have made the perilous voyage to America to start a new life free from persecution, a look at the world distribution of McCorkells today will show a sizeable branch of the family living in north America.

These migrations took place during the 18th century. I have as yet been unable to obtain a copy of 'From Viking Glory' by Louis McCorkle which may shed some light on this migration, the book can be viewed in snippet form through Google Books but little useful information can be gleaned from it in this form.

Poor harvests in the early years of the 18th century would have pushed others over the edge , almost all records I can find from this period show that McCorkells where farmers either in Donegal or Derry. Almost all these farmers were tenants scrapping a living from the land, high infant mortality rates right down to the 20th century no doubt meant that certain branches of the family simply died away.