The Johnson Line - the Irish in me

   The Johnsons on this line began in Ireland. In 1632, Thomas O’Neill MacShane changed his name to Johnson (John’s son). Sean in Gaelic is pronounced John. His father was Conn O’Neill MacShane, the son of Shane O’Neill, who was a rebel against England. To favor the English, Conn changed his name to son of Sean (Sean being the Gaelic spelling of Shane). Conn warred against the other O’Neill family for England.

The O’Neill family is believed to go back to before the year 1260, but we will start in 1260 when the Irish king Brian O’Neill died. Brian O’Neill, King of Medieval Ireland, was killed in the Battle of Down in 1260 by the Normans (who had overthrown the king of England in 1066). Brian’s son Donnell O’Neill succeeded his father.

Years later, Conn Bacach O’Neill, born in 1480, went to England and yielded to King Henry VIII. He was made Earl of Tyrone. Later, Conn’s son Shane O’Neill, born in 1530, rebelled against the English Queen Elizabeth I.

Shane O’Neill’s son, Conn O’Neill MacShane, appears to have lived in Scotland at the court of the Macleans and apparently took the name MacShane (Son of Shane) to fit in with the Scots. Conn O’Neill MacShane warred against his O’Neill family and was captured by Hugh O’Neill. After escaping, Conn joined with the English, later being granted land in Ireland once again.

Conn O’Neill MacShane’s son, Thomas O’Neill MacShane Johnson, was born around 1637 in Dungannon, Ireland. To associate more with the English, he took the name Johnson (Sean’s son). Thomas O’Neill MacShane Johnson’s great-grandson, James Andrew Johnson, was born around 1707 in Smithtown, Ireland. James Andrew Johnson moved to Kittery, York, Maine, where he married Rebecca Benson on August 6, 1740. Though my Irish DNA is 6%, I now know where my Irish roots are. My DNA matches these four sons of James Andrew Johnson: James, William, Dennis, and Noah Johnson. I come down Noah Johnson’s descendants to his great-great-granddaughter Rina Bell Johnson, who married James Edward Andrews Sr. They had James Edward Andrews Jr., who married Pauline Anspaugh and had me, child number 10.