Unknown# Cunningham

  Notes:

No less than five Cunninghams were among the fifty Scottish undertakers of the Ulster Plantation and all were granted lands in Co. Donegal. One Alexander Cunningham of Sorbie in Wigtonshire, was granted 1000 acres in the baronies of Boylagh and Banagh in Co. Donegal. Although he did not prosper and the lands were taken from him, he and his descendants remained in the area. The remaining four Cunningham undertakers were from Ayrshire. Sir James Cunningham, who was married to the daughter of the Earl of Glencairn, and his relatives Cutherbert, James and John. Between them they were granted 5,000 acres in the Portlough district of Raphoe, Co. Donegal.
Though all presumably settled some of their kinsmen on their properties, the only one who remained and prospered was John Cunningham of Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, brother of Sir James, whose lands bored on Lough Swilly. He is remembered in the name of the towns Newtowncunningham and Manorcunningham in Co. Donegal.


Anthony's take on the connection;
The reputed connection between the Earls of Glencairn and the brothers Francis and James Cunningham of Dublin and Raphoe, Co. Donegal via a younger son of one of the Earls is not possible. The Glencairns are recorded very comprehensively and no sons married into this commoner branch of the various Ulster Cunninghams. Even had this been so, then neither Francis nor his daughters Ann and Letitia would have been Honourables. The only connection recorded between the Glencairns and the Ulster Cunninghams occcurs a century before Francis was born c. 1700-10. Lady C/Katherine Cunningham, the fourth of eight children of James Cunningham, 7th Earl of Glencairn, and his first wife Mariot/Margaret Campbell, is recorded as marrying Sir James Cunningham, Knight, of Glengarnock, Ayrshire.

Sir James and his relatives (John of Crawfield, his son; Cuthbert, a relative; James of Horomilne, his uncle) were each awarded land in the precinct of Portlough/Portlagh, barony of Raphoe, Co. Donegal on 19 July 1610. Only one Cunningham, John of Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, described as a brother of Sir James, remained and prospered in this area - his land bordered on Lough Swilly. Sir James suffered considerable financial difficulties and sold his lands, leaving his wife "in very miserable circumstances, such that the King wrote three letters to the Lord Deputy" - see Carew ms). Other information in the Carew ms: Sir James was "retarded in planting by Sir R Bingley"; George was one of Sir James's children; Fort-Cunningham was residence of Sir James; Castle-Cunningham, was residence of his son John Cunningham of Crawfield.

The fact that Francis Cunningham was described as a merchant of Rahoe/Raphoe, Co. Donegal, c. 1730-40, with a brother James who had Jamaican estates, suggests their descent from the Raphoe Cunninghams. The only possible Glencairn link would be if Francis and James were direct descendants of Sir James and his first wife, Lady C/Katherine Cunningham over three or four generations. It is just as likely that they were descended from one of Sir James's kinsmen such as Cuthbert, James his uncle or John his brother. If so, then there would be no direct link with the Earls of Glencairn. As Cunningham is amongst the five most common names in Ulster, and James was a popular Scots-Irish name, it will be difficult to ascertain Sir James's descendants.

Unknown# married.