The settlement after 1691 confirmed the land ownership that had existed in this area from the time of the Plantation, (the MacDonnell’s, in Dunluce, who had supported James II, successfully petitioned to retain their lands) but, as the Anglican dominated Irish Parliament sought to exert its authority, it enacted a series of ‘penal laws’ which aimed to reduce Catholicism and Nonconformist Christian practice on the island. Presbyterian Ministers, associated with the Scottish settlers, had to either comply with Anglican norms or quit church property – as many did- and found new churches. This, coupled with economic difficulties, led to a significant migration of Presbyterians from this area to Massachusetts in 1718. They were led by James McGregor, minister of Aghadowey. Two of the places where the settled in New England were subsequently renamed to remind the migrants of home. The township of Nutfield was renamed 'Londonderry' in 1722 and 'Boston Township No 2' was renamed 'Colerain.' (https://discoverulsterscots.com/emigration-influence/america/1718-migration)
In 2018 the Ulster Historical Foundation carried out research to see if there are any remains of buildings associated with the the places these migrants left behind. Through map research they identified locations where abandoned houses were recorded on the 1830 ordnance survey maps that might relate to dwellings abandoned by the migrants. At Brockaghboy near Garvagh where ruins remain, a small archaeological excavation established that the building probably dated from the eighteenth century an could be a remote place farmed by some of the migrants before they left for the 'New World.'
In 2018 the Ulster Historical Foundation carried out research to see if there are any remains of buildings associated with the the places these migrants left behind. Through map research they identified locations where abandoned houses were recorded on the 1830 ordnance survey maps that might relate to dwellings abandoned by the migrants. At Brockaghboy near Garvagh where ruins remain, a small archaeological excavation established that the building probably dated from the eighteenth century an could be a remote place farmed by some of the migrants before they left for the 'New World.'
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