However, our research showed that there was almost certainly no relationship between Edward Rutledge and the Mayo Rut[t]ledges, and in preparing this research we also showed that an early 19th Century document in Trinity which contained the only real evidence on which this family connection was based, had in fact been forged. We were also able to prove, although it subsequently transpired that a direct descendant of these South Carolina Rutledges - the Rev. Benjamin B. Smith - had beaten us to it, that the Irish ancestors of Edward Rutledge actually came from Callan in County Kilkenny.

Initially we examined the pedigrees and papers lodged in the Manuscripts Department in Trinity College, in particular TCD Ms. 3391, A Sketch Pedigree of the Family of Rutledge of County Mayo. This document is dated to 1825, less than a generation after the death of Edward Rutledge in 1800. We had no reason to doubt its authenticity, and initially at least, we took this evidence at face value.

This document set out a detailed genealogy, showing that the first of the Rutledges to settle in Ireland was a Lieutenant Richard Ruttledge, an English soldier and a Catholic, who arrived in Ireland towards the end of the Nine Years’ War (1594-1603), and settled in the province of Connaught. He established a large family, from whom the Rutledges of Mayo are descended. At the time of the Confederate Wars (1641-52) when religion was still very much a political hot potato that polarised the Irish population, the Rutledges converted to Protestantism. These Rutledges were a prominent gentry family and they continued to flourish over the following centuries, holding large landed estates and marrying into the aristocracy.

The Trinity College document purported to show that in a later generation, in the first quarter of the 18th Century, one of this family was forced to leave Ireland because of a romantic liaison that soured. It was supposedly this man, named as William Rutledge in this manuscript source, who was the father of Edward Rutledge. Accordingly, William Rutledge “became agent to Lord St. George in Co. Galway and was obliged in consequence of an intrigue with said Lord’s daughter to fly to America where he had two sons afterwards members of congress…”.

Initially this evidence seemed pretty definitive, and appeared to prove the family origins of Edward Rutledge. However, we continued to examine other documents relating to this family, to ‘flesh out’ all the evidence and complete research to our own satisfaction. By extending our research, we soon realised that our trust in the Trinity document was entirely misplaced, and that the Rutledge family of South Carolina had very different origins in Ireland.

We knew from records in the Library of Congress that Edward Rutledge was born 23 November 1749. He was the youngest child of Dr. John Rutledge a physician (doctor), who had emigrated from Ireland shortly after his elder brother Andrew, both settling in South Carolina in the 1730s.

Dr. John Rutledge appears to have died in the same year that his son Edward was born, although we were unable to determine whether Edward was in fact a posthumous child. To date we have been unable to find a record of Dr. John Rutledge, or of his medical training. It is possible that he may simply have been articled to a country doctor and served out an apprenticeship, and no records of his education may survive.

The Library of Congress records showed that Edward had an older brother John (1739-1800), who also served as a Member of the Continental Congress during the American Revolutionary period. Both brothers were recorded as having studied law in England. We examined the various records of the Inns of Court, and after searching through them we found a record for the young Edward Rutledge who entered the Middle Temple in London on 12th January 1767. He completed his training and was ‘called’ to the English Bar on 3rd July 1772. He returned to America, where he commenced practise as a barrister in 1773. Between 1774 and 1776 Edward Rutledge served as a Member of the Continental Congress, and was a signatory to the Declaration of Independence on 4th July 1776.

Also in the records of the Middle Temple was an earlier record:

Andrew Rutledge, son of Thomas Rutledge Esq., deceased, late of Callan, county Kilkenny, Ireland, admitted to Middle Temple on 1st Feby. 1726.

It almost certain that this was Dr. John Rutledge’s brother, in which case Thomas would have been Edward Rutledge’s grandfather.

Our research confirms Rev. Benjamin B. Smith’s assertion that Edward Rutledge’s ancestors came from Callan in county Kilkenny, rather than county Mayo. This exercise illustrates the importance of cross-checking sources when conducting research, and avoiding over-reliance on one source alone.

This story has been so engaging that we intend to carry out further research to find out more about Edward Rutledge’s Callan roots.