On August 4, 1718, Scots-Irish Presbyterians from Ulster Provence Ireland Arrive in Boston Harbor

On August 4, 1718, the brigantine Robert arrived in Boston Harbor, led by Reverend James MacGregor and transporting 12 families from his congregation in Ulster province, Ireland. It was the first of five boats, containing about seven hundred Ulster Irish Presbyterians, also known as Scots-Irish, who arrived in Boston Harbor that year.

They had been assured beforehand that they could purchase a parcel of land in Boston, but when they arrived city leaders informed them they would need to join the Puritans’ Congregational Church to reside there. A few of them did, but the rest refused to change religion.

At Governor Samuel Shute’s suggestion, the Presbyterians moved to twelve square miles of land in Casco Bay, Maine, and eventually settled Worcester, Massachusetts, and Londonderry, New Hampshire.

“The arrival of these new settlers caused some concern. Alluding to grain shortages in the city, Thomas Lechmere complained in 1718, “These confounded Irish will eat us all up, provisions being most extravagantly dear and scarce.” 

Map of Boston, 1722

The Boston Town Records in 1723 noted that “great numbers of people have lately been transported from Ireland into this Province, many of which by reason of the present Indian war and other accidents befalling them are now residents in this town. . . . If due care [is] not taken, they may become a Town Charge or be otherwise prejudicial to the well fair and prosperity of the place.

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