While researching my family’s history, I realised the Wilsons were not Catholic and did not have typical Irish names (eg. Patrick, Michael, Bridget etc). When analysing further, I noted the Wilsons’ religion was Methodist, a Scottish Christian religion (or possibly Presbyterian?). Also, some of the male family names are of Scottish origin – Christopher, Thomas Andrew, Robert. Initially I thought this was unusual, to have a Scottish family living in Ireland, but some historical research provided the answer.
The first King of England and Scotland was James I. Elizabeth I Queen of England did not marry or have kids, so her half-sister’s son, James I, got the inheritance – England. Her half-sister Queen Mary (mother of James) was Queen of Scotland. So James I, got England and Scotland together. While having all the mainland real estate, James also wanted the nearby Island – Ireland. His plan was to send Scottish ‘low landers’ to Ireland and settle them there. He thought this would help keep the Irish under control. The plan worked, but in many ways it didn’t work.
So the Wilson family were probably lowlander Scots in origin.
Some history is below:
Mudpicker Family 