McCabe List - Early Irish in the Ottawa Valley, The

Bruce S. Elliott, index by DeAlton Owens

'Lieutenant Colonel By, Commanding Royal Engineer, Rideau Canal. Humbly Sheweth - It is our candid & sincere opinion that the description of Poor in Ireland alluded to would be highly benefited by being sent to Canada on the Conditions proposed; Most of Us have Relatives residing in that Country in impoverished circumstances'

So begins The McCabe List, published with the permission of Her Majesty's Stationery Office, a most important genealogical document on the Ottawa Valley. It provides the signature or mark, county, parish, and townland of origin, number of male and female children, and names and addresses of relatives in the homeland for some 700 mostly Irish families who were in the vicinity of Bytown on 5 February 1829. A richer genealogical goldmine on early Irish immigrants can scarcely be imagined.

The list was discovered by John McCabe, the well-known Belfast genealogist, while researching at the Public Record Office in England. He readily agreed to its publication and the British government granted permission to reproduce it. Bruce Elliott obtained a complete photocopy, transcribed it and wrote the introduction; the index was prepared by DeAlton Owens.

The Ontario Genealogical Society is pleased to once again offer this valuable tool in a new, easy-to-read format. The list should help resolve countless long-standing research deadlocks for those in eastern Ontario and western Quebec with Irish ancestry. Hundreds of familiar Valley names appear.

2002, 86 pages, nominal index