William Gamble was born in 1770 in Ulster. Cavan County was one of three Irish counties which are now in the Republic of Ireland but originally part of Ulster. Ulster was an ancient kingdom now largely coterminous with Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom and a separate country from the Republic of Ireland. Gamble died in Ohio, USA, in 1845. Is it possible that William Gamble moved his family from Ireland during the political upheaval that occurred there in the late eighteenth century?
The long and troubled history of relations between England and Ireland (bound up inevitably with Protestant and Roman Catholic conflicts) resulted in a number of bloody uprisings against English rule in Ireland, a period known in history as the Rebellion of 1798. These uprisings were inspired by both the American Revolution, begun in 1776, and the French Revolution, begun in 1789.
The English, motivated by a desire to restore order in Ireland and concern over the French involvement in the Irish Rebellion, drove for a closer political union between Ireland and England, resulting in the Act of Union of 1800. Though County Cavan seems not to have been a center of the rebellion, one still must wonder if the turmoil in the country served as the impetus to send the Gambles to America in search of a fresh start.
Image from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ulster_counties.svg
http://geneabloggers.com
© Eileen Cunningham, 2013
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