Jon..
A little bit of history and Canadian links to the Irish"Wild Geese"..and many of the now familiar family names from Quebec ..
The Irish Brigade, pride of the French Army, served under General Montcalm in the French - English Wars in North America. The first battle was on the 8th of September 1755 between 3,000 of the Irish Brigade and 9,000 of the British General William Johnson's forces. The British were left demoralized by their loss. Incidentally, Johnson was himself an O'Neill descended from a Shane O'Neill whose son adopted the surname MacShane which was eventually changed to Johnson . A small group had fought in the decisive Battle of the Plains of Abraham, though their 'colours' were not present (possibly because they weren't suppose to be there "by treaty"). General Wolfe's army recognized them by their distinctive red and green uniform jackets. Unfortunately Montcalm did not wait for the full force of the Irish Brigade to assemble before going into this battle. If he had, the outcome may have been quite different. Members of the Irish Brigade in Quebec are recorded with such names as "de Macarti (MacCarthy), de Patrice (FitzPatrick), Forcet (Forsyth), de Harennes (O'Hearn) de Klerec (O'Cleary), Sylvain (O'Sullivan) and Riel (Rielly/O'Rielly as in Louis Riel who was descended from Jack "Devil may care" Rielly, one of Patrick Sarsfield's Wild Geese). These families have since been absorbed into French Canadian communities and today, many do not know their Irish roots. One name that seems to not have changed was O'Neill.
During the American War of Independence in 1778 the officers of the Dillon Regiment petitioned "to be the first to strike a blow against England". Eventually the Dillon and Walsh Regiments of the Irish Brigade landed in Savannah, Georgia. Other Wild Geese went to West Africa to fight the English.
http://www.doyle.com.au/wild_geese.htm