Mulchrone

This is an Irish surname from County Mayo, in the far west of the country. For centuries there has been a persistent rumour that a Spanish ship from the Armada of 1588 was wrecked on this coast, and the survivors saved by the native people. If there is any truth in the rumour then this is a surname which may have arisen from such an event. In the Gaelic the name means "The swarthy one", from the medieval word "cron", dark or swarthy, which would almost certainly have described Spanish crew members. However although it is true that 16th century Ireland being both Catholic and generally in revolt against the English overlords, it also has to be said that survivors of a ship that was wrecked on the wild coasts of both England, Wales and Ireland, could expect little mercy. An event such as this would have brought untold wealth, with such ships being regarded by the locals as legitimate booty, that would provide proverty stricken people with something of a lottery win. Surviving records and registers from the region are either non existent or at best sketchy, although we do know that in the records of the Port of New York for the date June 19th 1846, a ship called the Arabian carrying Irish emigrants did reach Ellis Island, in the Hudson River. One of the passengers was John Mulchrone, aged twenty two, although his place of origin in Ireland is not known.