How is quakerism unique?

Answer 1

From piecing together the evidence, it has been possible to broadly draw the following general conclusions.

The early Quakers seemed to have been young when they arrived. John Pim was only 18 when he settled in Laois. Richard Jackson was born about 1643 and died in 1697, at the age of fifty four, so he was sixteen upon his arrival in the area.

They were all recent converts to Quakerism. As a result, they were people of strong religious fervour. They came with Edmundson to Laois and Offaly to oppose the payment of tithes. Many of them had not been Quakers when they arrived in Ireland but had been 'convinced' personally by William.

They were all English born or their parents were English. No evidence exists that there were any native Irish converts among them. The majority of the Quakers who arrived in the middle of the 1600s from the North of England. For example, Richard Jackson was born in 1643 in Lancashire. John Goodbody came from Yorkshire. He moved south from Cavan to Ballywill, near Geashill in County Offaly. Later his son Joseph move to Mullanard, in County Laois and his other son William settled in Shanebeg near Rosenallis. The early Quakers, like other recent English settlers, looked down upon the native Irish.

Many of the Quakers who settled in the area originally came through Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim. They first settled in both Antrim and Down and later moved to Armagh. William Edmundson convinced them to come with him to County Cavan and down to Laois and surrounding areas. The early Quakers were a fluid group constantly on the move even they arrived in the Midlands. Many settled in areas for short periods before up-rooting again, leading to many of the early Quaker surnames disappearing within a couple of generations.

They settled mostly on farms, combining farming with skilled trades. The Pims obtained land at Lackagh and Rushin. The Edmundsons developed a tannery on their farm in Rosenallis, William himself had served an apprenticeship in carpentry in his youth.

Although many later became very successful business people, Quakers belonged to all levels of society. They were farmers, craftsmen, teachers, shopkeepers and even domestic servants. It would not have been unusual to find successful Quaker families employing other Quakers as domestic servants.