You can't keep a good man down

Special thanks to Thomas O'Neill(2nd) and to all our antecedents without whom this history would not have been possible.

The title has been chosen to reflect the spirit of the people concerned. Born in difficult circumstances, surviving famine, revolution, depression, World Wars and institutionalised anti-Catholic and anti-Irish sentiment, each in their own way rose above the forces which strove to contain them. This is well illustrated by the case of John McFall and Pat O’Neill, direct descendants of the famine fleeing immigrant Edward Madden, who simultaneously represented their town of birth as, respectively, MP and Provost.
The scope of this history spans some ten generations covering the period from the mid 1700s till the present. It is unlikely that we shall ever know more than the barest details of the individuals comprising the first few generations. It is hoped that, by providing a historical background, some insight as to their motivations may be gained.
The second half of the eighteenth Century was one of social turmoil. The American War of Independence, 1775 – 1783, the French Revolution, 1789 – 1799, and in Ireland the United Irishmen Rebellion of 1798 led by Wolfe Tone, challenged the established order throughout Europe and the Americas.
It was, however, the Industrial Revolution which, by changing forever the nature and location of available employment, was to prove the greatest instrument of change, and which would have the most influence on the lives outlined.

My Family History

• Surname List


• Index of Individuals


• InterneTree


• Sources

Family Photos

• Poindfauld (36 KB)
  Poindfauld Terrace Dumbarton

Family Tree Maker Reports and Trees

• Genealogy Report: Descendants of Felix McIlvaine (View PDF)


• Genealogy Report: Descendants of Daniel Quinn (View PDF)


• Genealogy Report: Descendants of Charles Sweeney (View PDF)


• Genealogy Report: Descendants of John Madden (View PDF)


• Genealogy Report: Descendants of John O'Neill (View PDF)

Related Files

• The Irish in 19th C. Scotland (6 KB)
  An account of political and religious attitudes to the Irish immigrant in Scottish society in the second half of the 19th Century.
• The Famine Generations (40 KB)
  A short history of the years 1750-1850 focusing on Ireland.
• Dumbarton in the 1850s (2 KB)
  A short sketch of the town of Dumbarton as it was when, like over a million of their fellow country men, John and Mary McIlvaine, their newly wed daughter Agnes and her husband Edward Madden, James Quinn, Elizabeth Hammill and Elizabeth Burns fled Ireland during, or in the immediate aftermath of the Famine.