Actually, we still don't know much about the origin of James Doyle and even less about his father. William Diel/Doyle is listed as James' father and mother, Mary, on the Marriage Certificate of James Doyle and Elmiera Caroline Bishop in September of 1855. He is Irish according to the census records but some sources have said he came from County Cork and another said that he came from Limerick, Ireland.

There has been some difficulty tracking down the correct James Doyle because it became a name associated with Irish national pride. Bishop James Warren Doyle  (1786-1834) was a Roman Catholic Bishop from Kildare and Leighlin counties. He was born near Wexford which is the traditional home of the Doyle family name.  He used passive resistance and civil disobedience to protest the "Tithe" laws which were put in place by the British to support the Anglican church.  Doyle said that the church was, "taking the blanket from the bed of sickness, the ragged apparel from the limbs of the pauper, and selling it by auction for the payment of the tithe."  The "Tithe War" showed that there some progress possible to negotiate with the British.  He also helped establish National Schools across Ireland from 1831 which was used as a model for public schools in England and Scotland. Because of his notoriety the name of James Doyle seems to have been used in most Doyle families for at least one son.  [Wikipedia 2013]

Rumors about our original immigrant Doyles are diverse.  Dorothy Hitchings says, "The story that she heard was that the three Doyle brothers came from Lemrick County, Ireland and worked on the building of the train from Norfolk to Bristol. James Jackson Doyle worked for Preston in Seven Mile Ford as a gardener after he came to America about 1842".
                                   [interview with Dorothy Hitchings of Roanoke, VA in 1995, a relative of the Doyle & Grubb family]

Elroy found that the ship Saranak on an earlier trip came from Liverpool. Cork would certainly be an easier port to make than Limerick but they could still have come from Limerick and gone overland or sailed around to catch a boat from Cork. Historically the Doyles are centered in Leinster, Wexford, Wicklow and Carlow according to the [Clans and Families of Ireland]. [Clans and Families of Ireland p. 104]

"The Embarkation, Waterloo Docks, Liverpool"
from The Illustrated London News, July 6, 1850

Liverpool was a major port for immigration from all over Europe.  The standard procedure was to wait in Liverpool until the immigrant could book passage. They sometimes had to wait weeks in often very poor and expensive lodging.  See more on this in our historical page on Ireland and the Potato Famine.

Although there are perhaps hundreds of Doyles immigrating, only so many of these fit the profile of our James Doyle because of his age. The James Doyle that we have identified as the closest fit came to the port of Philadelphia on the ship Saranak on 30 May, 1849. He may have come, possibly, from Limerick Co., Ireland with a possible brother or cousin, Martin Doyle, also on the same boat. [ship manifests of Phil., National Archives, WA, DC]  

Source:

Grenham, John. Clans and Families of Ireland, The Heritage and Heraldry of Irish Clans and Families. Wellfleet Press, Book Sales, Ince. 110 Enterprise Ave, Secaucus, NJ 07094, pub 1993
Hitchings, Dorothy. of Roanoke, VA or Blue Ridge, phone interview , 1995
Smyth County History Traditions, Virginia. Pub. 1932
The Illustrated London News, July 6, 1850 - illustration
University College Cork, Ireland print of James Doyle
US Archives, Ship manifests of Philadelphia 1849
US Census records, Smyth County, VA

All information and photos included within these pages are here for the express purpose of personal genealogical research and may not be included or used for any commercial purpose or included in any commercial site without the express permission of Cheryl and Elroy Christenson. Copyright Elroy Christenson 1998-2016.