to an Irishman, Francis
Makemie of Donegal, the credit of founding Presbyterianism in
America, while among noted Presbyterian divines of Irish birth were
James Waddell, known as "the blind preacher of the wilderness,"
Thomas Smyth, John Hall, Francis Allison, William Tennant, and James
McGrady, all men of great ability and influence in their day. Samuel
Finley, President of Princeton College in 1761, was a native of
Armagh, and John Blair Smith, famous as a preacher throughout the
Shenandoah Valley and the first president of Union College (1795),
was of Irish descent. Among the pioneer preachers of the western
wilderness were McMahon, Dougherty, Quinn, Burke, O'Cool, Delaney,
McGee, and many others of Irish origin.

Irishmen and their sons have founded American towns and cities, and
the capital of the State of Colorado takes its name from General
James Denver, son of Patrick Denver, an emigrant from county Down in
the year 1795. Sixty-five places in the United States are named after
people bearing the Irish prefix "O" and upwards of 1000 after the
"Macs", and there are 253 counties of the United States and
approximately 7000 places called by Irish family or place names.
There are 24 Dublins, 21 Waterfords, 18 Belfasts, 16 Tyrones, 10
Limericks, 9 Antrims, 8 Sligos, 7 Derrys, 6 Corks, 5 Kildares, and so
on.

Immigrant Irishmen have also been the founders of prominent American
families. One of the most ancient of Irish patronymics, McCarthy, is
found in the records of Virginia as early as 1635 and in
Massachusetts in 1675, and all down through the successive
generations descendants of this sept were among the leading families
of the communities where they located. In Virginia, the McCormick,
Meade, Lewis, Preston, and Lynch families; in the Carolinas, the
Canteys, Nealls, Bryans, and Butlers; and in Maryland, the Carrolls
and Dulanys are all descended from successful Irish colonizers.

Even from this very incomplete summary, we can see that Irish blood,
brain, and brawn have been a valuable acquisition to the building of
the fabric of American institutions, and that the sons of Ireland
merit more prominent recognition than has been accorded them in the
pages of American history. The pharisees of history may have withheld
from Ireland the credit that is her due, but, thanks to the
never-failing guidance of the records, we are able to show that at
all times, whether they came as voluntary exiles or were driven from
the