Merseyside Biography Pages
Paul McCartney
Anyone who is interested in Beatles genealogy would have found the Emily Atack episode of 'Who Do You Think You Are' fascinating. Paul McCartney is Emily's grandmother's cousin. Many viewers would have been surprised to discover that the McCartneys were not always McCartneys. At first I doubted that the surname McCartney had evolved over time so I decided to look at the records for myself. The earliest records do in fact have McCartey and McCarthy! McCartney appears as early as 1845 for the baptism of James McCartney (occ: plumber/painter) at St Nicholas RC Liverpool. James (occ: upholsterer) was baptised at St Anthony RC Liverpool as McCartey in 1822, married as McCarthy at St Nicholas CE Liverpool in 1844 but his son James (occ: plumber/painter) married as McCartney at St Peter CE Liverpool in 1864. From then onwards his family line was called McCartney. As to where in Ireland they came from, other records from St Anthony RC Liverpool show that Ann McCartey's maiden name was Roney, a surname mostly found in County Down. Now that rings a bell. I remember another researcher once telling me that they had found information proving Paul's paternal line went back to the same part of Ireland as John's, County Down!