Irish Needles

by Dennis McLane

Front cover of Irish Needles - Vol I

Volume I:

The History of the Frampton Irish







Front cover of Irish Needles - Vol II



Volume II:

Genealogy Compendium
of the Frampton Irish A-K




Front cover of Irish Needles - Vol III





Volume III:

Genealogy Compendium
of the Frampton Irish L-Z

Originally released in March 2014
by Shoppe Foreman Publishing.
2nd Edition of Volume I released January 2019.


Irish Needles provides the history and genealogy of the Irish immigrant families that settled in Frampton Township in French Quebec in the early 19th Century. The author has tracked these families from their origins in Ireland to their arrival and settlement in Quebec and the ultimate diaspora of their descendants throughout Canada and the United States. The author discusses the reasons for their emigration to Quebec: involvement in the 1798 Irish Rebellion, agrarian disturbances, religious oppression, land tenure discouragements, economic downturns, and minor famines. These emigrants discovered economic and employment opportunities in Quebec that their Irish counterparts decades later would not find in places like Boston and New York.

In his research, the author discovered that his own Great-Great-Great Grandfather Andrew Murphy was the first settler in Frampton Township. This ancestor had lived through the 1798 Rebellion, and his father Miles Murphy had been imprisoned in Dublin from 1800 to 1806 without being afforded a trial. The Murphy family left for Quebec shortly after Miles was released and banished in 1806. Their arrival in Quebec was very early for Irish emigration. These Murphys encouraged their Irish relatives and friends to settle in the Frampton area. The Irish who lived in Frampton and the surrounding townships and siegneuries were interrelated to the few English and Scottish families that lived in the area. So the author has put together an all encompassing history of this diverse community and has included both those of the Catholic religion and those of the Protestant religions.

The author has taken a genealogical approach to the research and writing of Irish Needles. This approach has resulted in a story that includes comprehensive information about the “everyday people” of the community rather than just the prominent landlords, seigneurs, and officials. In his research, the author has identified over 3,600 families and 13,200 people. 

Volume I of Irish Needles is the "History of the Frampton Irish." It includes a comprehensive name index. Volumes II and III of Irish Needles comprise the "Genealogy Compendium of the Frampton Irish." These three volumes include all of the data, events, and stories that the author has gathered in over ten years of research on Frampton Irish families.

To learn more about the author and the Irish community in and around Frampton, Quebec, visit the author's website: Frampton Irish.


Author Dennis McLane, professional genealogist and historian and 
retired Deputy Chief of BLM Law Enforcement

About the Author

Dennis McLane is a native of California. His parents migrated to Southern California from Sherwood, North Dakota. His Grandfather Miles McLane had homesteaded in Sherwood after growing up in Neillsville, Wisconsin. Dennis’ family always thought of themselves as Irish-Americans. He grew up in Southern California communities where almost all the people came from somewhere else in the U.S. After researching his family’s history, he found that his grandfather had been born and baptized in Ste. Marguerite, Quebec (a parish neighboring on Frampton, Quebec). Thus he discovered that his family was actually Irish-Canadians.

After serving in the U.S. Air Force from 1971 to 1975, Dennis graduated from Sacamento State University in 1976 with a BS degree in park and recreation management with a minor in biological conservation. He worked on several assignments as a park ranger throughout California. He was appointed to a ranger job with the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 1979. He rose to the rank of Deputy Chief of Law Enforcement by the time he retired in 2003.

He became interested in the genealogy of his family in about 1995 and has been doing genealogical and historical research since then. In his research, he discovered the Irish community that lived in Frampton Township and the surrounding townships and seigneuries. He has made research trips to Northern California, Wisconsin, Maine, Quebec, and the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. He has been to Frampton, Quebec, twice and once to County Wexford, Ireland, following the trail of the Frampton Irish. He now lives in Boise, Idaho.

Dennis has previously published (2002) a personal family history titled, Island Routes - The McLane Family History. In 2012 Dennis published Seldom Was Heard an Encouraging Word: A History of Bureau of Land Management Law Enforcement.

All three volumes of Irish Needles are available in soft cover on Amazon.com (at Volume I, Volume II, and Volume III). The three volumes are 245, 405, and 389 pages, respectively, for a total of 1,039 pages. Volume 1 includes a comprehensive index to names.

ShoppeForeman.com is the business website for Shoppe Foreman Publishing operated by Larry Foreman.
You may contact us by e-mail at LForeman5@cox.net  or by phone at 405- 509-1612.
Revised April 2019.