Research · Open

The shop in Moville that was boycotted

The story. Carric's father remembers being told that someone in the family owned a shop in Moville in the 1880s. Because they were Protestant, local people would not trade with them. The shop failed, and they left. He thought they were Whites. Family story

What the records show so far (checked September 24, 2026):

• The Whites were Protestant. The 1901 and 1911 censuses list them as Church of Ireland, and James and Mary are buried in the Church of Ireland graveyard at Greencastle. Record
• They were farmers, not shopkeepers. John White held land at Carrowhugh in 1857, and Mary and Robert were still farming there in 1911. Record
• No one named White or Whyte kept a shop in Moville, Greencastle or Muff in 1901 or 1911. The only Whites in trade anywhere in County Donegal those years were in Ballyshannon, Raphoe, Donegal Town and Letterkenny, and none of them are known relations. Record
• The 1880s are exactly when the Land League was organizing in Inishowen and "boycott" became a word, so the story fits its time. Open question

Where it could still be true. The shopkeeper may have been a Morrison, a Burnside, or someone who married in, and the shop may have closed before 1901. A Samuel Morrison lived on Malin Street in Moville in 1901, and a James Morrison at Drumaweir was an egg merchant by 1911. Neither is a proven relation.

How to settle it

1. Slater's trade directories of Ireland for 1881 and 1894 list every shopkeeper in Moville by name. They are on Findmypast.
2. The Derry Journal and Londonderry Sentinel, 1880 to 1890, reported boycotts by name. Search both for Moville.
3. In Moville, ask the rector of St Finian's and the old Carrowhugh families (Gillespie, Cavanagh, McGuinness) whether anyone remembers a White or Whyte shop.