"Irish," "Scotch-Irish," or "Scots-Irish?"

A sign in New Hampshire marks the place of an early Scotch-Irish settlement.

'Scotch is a whiskey, Scots are a people." Sometimes I'll get a comment of this sort on a blog or social media post. 

Many of the enlisted men in the 8th Virginia were "Scotch-Irish." Most often they were simply called "Irish" at that time, even though their ancestors often came from Scotland. They were universally Protestant (Catholics were not allowed to immigrate), but they were Presbyterian--a denomination most British soldiers equated with revolutionary sentiment.  

The term "Scotch-Irish" was occasionally used during the Revolutionary period as an adjective, but first appeared as a noun in 1789. It became important to distinguish Protestant Irish from the Catholic Irish, who began to come to American in large numbers in the 1840s. Here's an interesting article on the difference between "Irish" and "Scotch-Irish" in American history and culture. I use the term "Scotch-Irish" and "Protestant Irish" and sometimes just "Irish" interchangeably. Occasionally, someone will tell me that the proper term is "Scots-Irish," even though that word first appeared in 1966. I've stuck to "Scotch-Irish" (or just "Irish") because it is correct for the period, traditional, and what I was taught to say as a child.

To be fair, though, "Scots" is technically older. It dates to the 14th century. It was a contraction of "Scottis," a local (northern) variant of "Scottish." It was revived in Britain in the mid-19th century in reaction to some nasty English vernacular. Even then, though, I suspect it was adapted as an adjective from the plural for "Scot," and therefore not a real continuation of the earlier term. "Scotch" is a contraction of "Scottish" and is plenty old itself, dating back as far as 1590.  It is now distinctly American. If you go to the British Isles they will correct you if you refer to a person that way. But, then, they don't call their whiskey "Scotch," either. They call it "whisky."

"You say 'tom-AH-to' and I say 'tom-AY-to.'" As an American blog about American history, "Scotch-Irish" seems like the right term here.

(Revised, May 26, 2021 and May 21, 2024)