The Boals are my maternal grandmother’s family. They came to Ireland during the Plantation of Ulster in the 17th century from such parishes as Glasserton around Luce Bay in Southwest Scotland. They have been traced to Co. Armagh in the mid-18th century. In the mid-19th century, they migrated to work in the linen mills of Ligoniel and subsequently moved to Belfast.
One of the most significant figures in the history of the family is Pastor Samuel Boal, an itinerant preacher and “the Reverend Ian Paisley” of his day, who started his career in Belfast before moving to Glasgow and Motherwell and later Canada. His public speaking, pamphleteering, and military recruitment activities during the First World War attracted considerable press coverage in Ulster, Scotland and Canada.
Several of the Boals moved to Scotland and Canada, and their descendants have also been traced. They were also generally upwardly socially mobile. With the expansion of higher education following World War II, increasing numbers graduated from university and entered managerial and professional employment.
Boal Family
Boal Family
Ireland and Canada
c. 1740 – c. 2000
Bain Family Ancestry 