Comments - Did 'Bat' Masterson have Irish Heritage? - The Wild Geese2024-03-28T17:20:01Zhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=6442157%3ABlogPost%3A151924&xn_auth=noYes, I always wondered about…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2015-04-09:6442157:Comment:1527172015-04-09T14:33:59.771ZBrian Nolanhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/BrianNolan
<p>Yes, I always wondered about Bat Masterson...and his undoubted Irish roots. While Masterson was a Wexford name, a branch of the family cast up on Achill Island a long time ago and Mayo has had Masterson's there since before 1798, so it is very possible that Bat was a really a Mayoman, and not from the sunny south-east at all. You know from tracing other peoples family histories that certain christian names are associated with specific families. You mention that Bat's first name was William.…</p>
<p>Yes, I always wondered about Bat Masterson...and his undoubted Irish roots. While Masterson was a Wexford name, a branch of the family cast up on Achill Island a long time ago and Mayo has had Masterson's there since before 1798, so it is very possible that Bat was a really a Mayoman, and not from the sunny south-east at all. You know from tracing other peoples family histories that certain christian names are associated with specific families. You mention that Bat's first name was William. In the 1824 Piggotts Directory (the old-time 'yellow pages' as it were) there is a William Masterson, Cabinet Maker in Castlebar, County Mayo. There is also a William Masterson listed in the Tithe Applotment books of the same year at Mountgordon, Aglish, in County Mayo. Finally a book was published in 2000 by William G Masterson, titled County Mayo parish Records, 1824-1901. Curiously he is from Cincinatti, Ohio, which was a major centre of emigration for Achill-islanders all through the 19th and 20th centuries. So, my hypothesis is that Bat aka William Masterson was probably a grandson or great-grandson of an Achill, or at least a Mayo Masterson who likely emigrated after the 1798 rebellion, which was a big deal in Mayo, with a French army landing at Kilalla and defeating the British in two battles before surrendering. A Masterson very likely left with them, or after them, to escape the British pogroms against the Irish rebels, and ended up in the French part of Canada, from where Bat and his two brothers left to make their fortune in the USA. There you have my tuppence-hapenny! worth Thanks for posting!</p>