I might be able to help anyone who has queries on this surname, as it is my own. Coincidentally, I did voluntary work while at university for the centre of migration studies in Belfast Northern Ireland. Basically this involved the reproduction of the original shipping lists of irish immigrants from the late 1700s and throughout the 19th century to North America. The original shipping lists are in Washington USA, but we have them on photo-copied microfilm in the public records office in Belfast. The problem is, that the reproduction onto a readable computerised data base is still on-going and most immigrants haven't been logged.
More generally, the quality of the shipping lists in terms of detail is very very poor. All they give is name, country of residence (no exact adresses), age, occupation and place of desired destination. They don't even give localised details such as county etc, let alone town or street names. Also, it was normal for irish immigrants to travel to Great Britain to take the voyage to North America, so it is hard to guage where they cam from. Also the handwriting and spelling of names is appalling which makes it hard to decypher. Hence, the phenomenon of mis-spelt Irish names in America.."McGwire" etc. They come from the fact that the logs were spelt wrongly on arrival and the fact that most immigrants were illiterate.
But I know alot about the name as I have researched it and I'm in one of the few indegenious families still left with the name in Ireland. So I'd be glad to help. Email me any time. All the best.
serial_thriller_@hotmail.com