Brumlow / Brumlough Roots in Ireland

Hello All,
I am looking for information on my ancestor and hoping to connect to my Irish roots more strongly. Here is what I know so far about my Irish Ancestor:James Brumlough moved to America in 1854 on the ship The Thornton. He said he left a brother in Ireland that was a priest but the knowledge of his parent's names and brother's name have been lost to history. According to his children he spoke Irish as a first language and English second, but was fluent in both. His occupation on the ship manifest was that of a weaver. He always said he moved to America as a young man, and the manifest supports this by saying he as 21 years old. He never said where in Ireland he was from.
I went to Ireland in 2022 and talked with a genealogist at length. The genealogist only had an hour to talk, so most of the information found was already what I knew, however, she did say that the name Brumlough (spelled Brumlow now) was definitely a Gaelic name. I went to Dunquin as well and spoke with some very fluent Irish speakers who agreed that it must be a Gaelic name. I am confident he is Irish, since during the time saying you were Irish and speaking Irish was not something people bragged about when emigrating. Any and all information is very appreciated and I hope to find more info on him and his family.
I am unsure if Brumlough is the true Irish spelling, but according to the ship manifest and an 1880 census in America, it is spelled Brumlough. I used AI technology to find a possible Irish / Gaelic spelling variant and was given: Brumloch, Ó Brúmloch, Ó Brúmlach,  Ó Broimhleó, and Ó Broimhleóir but plugging these variants into Google shows no results. Do these variants have any solid foundation?
I do know that in historical Irish history, the first son is named after the Father's Father's name, which in this case would be John. The second son is named after the Mother's Father's name, which is George, and that information I thankfully have traced back. The mother's name of James I believe would either be Mary, I assume since the first daughter born was named Mary. Please help me find more information. My main goal is to find what county my ancestor was from, but all information is gladly accepted.

I am on GEDmatch as well if that helps.

Thank you in advance.

Hello Paul,

It's great to hear that you're exploring your Irish roots and have gathered a considerable amount of information already.

While you've already done quite a bit of research, you might still find this overview of research resources helpful in case there are some you haven't yet explored. In addition, the National Archives and National Library of Ireland offer free genealogy advice both in person and via email. While they don't conduct the research themselves, they can provide guidance on the best resources to use and also provide the details of professional genealogists that can be hired (for a fee). You can find more information on their services here.

Wishing you the best of luck on your genealogy journey,

Alex

Thank you Alex,

I just sent out an email to them, and I hope to hear from them soon. I also hope more people can look into the post and possibly help fill in some of the blanks I have in my research.

I must admit I don't know the origins of this name; it could possibly be variant spellings of Bromley, Bramley, Brownlee or Brownlow. For example, RootsIreland, https://www.rootsireland.ie/, records 14 Bromlow baptisms in County Dublin in 18th century and 2 Brumlow marriages in County Armagh in 18th century. 

An excellent starting point for surname research is the ‘Surname Search’ option on 'Irish Ancestors' website, https://www.johngrenham.com/surnames/ , where you can explore the location, frequency, variant spellings and history of Irish surnames. 

Thanks Brian and Alex for contributing - The surname variants don't make it easy, hence it's important to look at all variant options as Brian said.

Paul, I couldn't find Brumlough (as found on the ship manifest) on the John Grenham website, but you may have luck trying variants through Roots Ireland as Brian suggested. Hopefully you'll be able to identify the county your ancestor came from. 

Let us know how your search goes!