This is a fascinating read! There's certainly much more research that needs doing before drawing conclusions but it's interesting nonetheless
1521 Spanish reports indicates Irish may have settled in Georgia and the Carolinas. While Christopher Columbus is generally credited with having discovered America in 1492, a 1521 Spanish report provides inklings of evidence that there were, in fact, Irish people settled in America prior to Columbus’ journey.“Researchers feel certain that there was a colony of Irish folk living in what is now South Carolina, when Christopher Columbus “thought” he had discovered the New World,” writes Richard Thornton for The Examiner.
View the 1492 Lists of seamen on board Columbus' ships: Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria