For Part 2 of this series click here
Ulster and Ian Paisley are mentioned a lot in Peter Ruckmans commentaries (see number 11 in the list of appendix 59, page 1779 in the Ruckman reference Bible for example)
Ian evidently was a friend of his until he stabbed Doc in the back on behalf of Bob Jones university... See the 25th & 26th notes in this article. See page 816 of Bill Gradys' 'How Satan Turned America Against God' See track 3 of this disk. And know what goes around comes around. (Gal 6.7, Judges 1.7)
Seems this same backstabbing, Judas-like character took the money and committed treason. But then who could've
*[LATE EDIT] Regarding the above links, how did a 'covenant theologian' not consider Ex 23.32? Unless of course, Ex 23.8 had already applied..?
Anyway, back to the topic at hand.
Today is Ulster day.
Remember me
My sculptured Glens were crystal rivers ran,
my Purple Mountains misty in the Sun
My coastlines little changed since time began,
I gave you birth.
I watched you go,
You saw me fade into the distant sky,
You sailed away from me with your tear filled eye, You said you’d ne’er forget, though years passed by, But time rolled on.
Your young land grew,
And new sons fought to keep their country fair,
And at the Alamo and Shiloh they were there,
And with pride they filled the Presidential chair,
My Ulstermen,
Remember me,
Though battle-scarred and weary I abide
Though Americans their heritage denied,
When you speak of history say my name with pride
I am Ulster.
Although God moved King James to get our bible translated, he also moved him to get these guys to start a plantation of a nation that would spread the gospel and that same bible across everywhere they went, including America. ( This was known to most settlers at the time as a 'hamecoming' so they weren't invaders, which is a papist lie, who actually invades a barren wasteland?)
Take half an hour to watch this amazing documentary, if nothing else in this post.
For the readers among you try this, if nothing else!
NOTE: I have trimmed the fat and summarized that link ^ at the bottom section of this post.
^ Isn't it strange how this has been taken down 3 times since I made this post? ^
Taken from 'The Hound of Ulster'
For I tell you my Queen [Maeve] that in all Ireland, in all the world, there are none who can lightly face the Men of Ulster in their wrath.
Ulster Explained <-- The best, most simplistic site explaining who we are
"The traits of loyalty, family pride, eagerness to fight, and self-sustainability are enduring traits that can be applied to the today's descendants of the Scots-Irish settlers. They are the men and women in rural areas, the soldiers, the hunters, the conservatives, the frugal, and the self-sustaining."
Under James, the Plantation of Ulster by English and Scots Protestants began, and the English colonization of North America started its course with the foundation of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607,[178] and Cuper's Cove, Newfoundland, in 1610.
^ For readers
For watchers -
On the topic, try a non-revised history of St Patrick as well!
The Scots/Irish are always called Irish in the history books; Especially Sharf's "History of Western Maryland" and T.J.C. William’s' "History of Frederick County, Maryland" and "History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania." That left me with the question as to why the Irish were such staunch Catholics in Ireland, and yet they settled with the Protestant Germans and were described as Presbyterians and Methodist/Episcopalians. I now know that the ones called Irish in the genealogy and biography of Frederick and Washington Counties of Maryland were really the Scots/Irish, and they were a completely different people from the Native Irish. Therefore, a lot of us Americans who have been wearing green on St. Patrick's day, should really have been wearing Orange in honor of the true nationality of our ancestors, the Ulster- Scots.
The term Ulster-Scots has, for nearly 400 years, referred to people, not place - the people who migrated from the Lowlands of Scotland to Ulster, and to the Ulster-Scots communities that they established right across the nine counties.
It is important to recognize that migrations between the two coastlines have been ongoing for thousands of years, but it is generally accepted that it was the Hamilton & Montgomery Settlement of May 1606 that saw the floodgates open. Tens of thousands of Lowland Scots poured into Ulster:
“…Hamilton & Montgomery... did not wrest a fertile, cultivated and prosperous region from Gaelic proprietors. They came instead to a country devastated by war and famine... they created the bridgehead through which the Scots were to come into Ulster for the rest of the century...”
from ATQ Stewart The Narrow Ground, page 38 – 39
This first large wave of permanent migrants were not soldiers or mercenaries (as was the case in the other major Scottish migrations of the era, for example to Poland or Sweden). They were ordinary Scottish families, seeking a new life. They were mainly Presbyterian in faith and outlook, and overwhelmingly Scots-speaking in language. As John Hewitt summarised so well, it was:
“…a transplantation of Scots from not very far away to a climate and an economy very like home, and to which the language, folk culture and lore had been carried without dilution…”
from Ancestral Voices; the selected prose of John Hewitt, p66
This was just the beginning - these first Ulster-Scots settlements were built upon over the following centuries, through constant fresh migrations which both increased the size of the Ulster-Scots community and enriched our heritage and traditions. The permanent Lowland Scots imprint on Ulster is crystal clear.
So Ulster-Scots not only refers to these people, and their descendants, but also to their heritage and cultural traditions. The Lowland Scots brought industry, language, music, sport, religion and a myriad of traditions to Ulster. And many of these have become mainstream, not narrow cultural markers, but broad themes in our society.
None of these things were fossilised, frozen in a 1600s time warp - the traditions have developed, changed and grown over time. In Scotland, what were once only markers of regional Highland identity have over time become markers of national Scottish identity. In the same way, some aspects of Ulster-Scots identity have adopted Highland influences too.
Is “Ulster-Scots” not just about the two places – Ulster and Scotland?
Some people assume that anything that links the two places of Ulster and Scotland should be described as Ulster-Scots. However, this confuses the term and clouds how it has been used over the centuries. Links between the two places might be more clearly described using a different term, such as Ulster/Scottish.
How old is the term “Ulster-Scots”?
Some people think the term Ulster-Scots is a recent invention. This is nonsense – and reveals much about the poor knowledge of our history. The first known written usage of the term Ulster-Scots was in 1640. In the aftermath of Scotland’s National Covenant of 1638, the Presbyterian community in Ulster was seen by the government of the day as a very real threat, and Sir George Radcliffe wrote “…none is so dim-sighted but sees the general inclination of the Ulster Scots to the Covenant…”
The term “Ulster-Scots” in literature
In literature, the term crops up time and again. Here are just five famous examples from the late 1800s – early 1900s:
Rev Henry Henderson (1820 – 1879) of Holywood wrote a column entitled “Ulster Scot’s Letters to his Friends at Home and Abroad” in the Belfast Weekly News under the pseudonym “Ulster Scot”, from 1869 – 1879. When he died, his son William carried on the column as “Ulster Scot junr”!
The book Three Wee Ulster Lassies, published in London in 1883 includes three characters – the Ulster-Kelt, the Ulster-Saxon and the Ulster-Scot.
Edinburgh author John Harrison published a series of articles, and later a book, in 1888 entitled “The Scot in Ulster” where he uses the term Ulster Scot throughout the text.
In 1912 the US Ambassador to Britain, Whitelaw Reid (himself of Co Tyrone descent) delivered a lecture in both Belfast and Edinburgh entitled The Scot in America and the Ulster-Scot, which was later published as a book.
The pedigree of the term “Ulster-Scot” is undeniable.
Shouldn’t it just be “Scots in Ulster”?
At what point did the early settlers cease to be simply Scots in a different land, and become something else? Some would say that by the 1650s when the first generation of Ulster-born Scots were becoming adults there were clear signs of them being different than the mainland Scots their parents had left behind.
If you've made it this far and are really glutton for punishment here's a history lesson!
The Roots of The Ulster Scots People - The ancient kindred peoples of Northern Ireland Many people ask themselves. What is the conflict in Northern Ireland all about ? Who has the most right to live on this island ?. Who are the Ulster Scots people and what of their history ?. We all have the right to live on this island In peace and no one has the right to deny the people that right. But there are those who feel this land belongs exclusively to them and that the British people have no right to be here and this includes the Ulster Scots. Some people would for political reasons say the Ulster Scots people were planted in Ireland by the English in the 1600s. While others would deny their Existence altogether. This is a short historical booklet which may explain some of the more complex points regarding the Ulster Scots people Ulster Ulster is set on the North Eastern corner of Ireland, facing Scotland across a narrow sea ( 11 Miles ) and separated from the rest of Ireland by a zone of hills called the Drumlins. P.L Henry( a prominent historian ) has described the difference between Ulster and the rest of Ireland as “ One of the most deeply rooted ancient, and from a literary point of view, most productive facts of Irish history.” Furthermore “Ulster’s bond with Scotland counterbalances her lax ties with the rest of Ireland” Pre-Celtic Ireland In 6,000 BC Ireland was covered in dense forests of Pine and Hazel, Oak and Elm .About this time the first people crossed over from Scandinavia to Britain and made their way across the narrow sea ( 11 Miles ) from Scotland to Ulster. Because of the thick forests these people travelled along the river’s and lakes and along the Sea-coasts. They made their way up the river Bann to Lough Neagh and spread slowly Southwards. They were Hunters and Fishermen and lived besides lakes and rivers. According to scholars they were tall, broad shouldered and large chested. Their forehead was broad and high, their hair was Brown, Fair, and often Red and their eyes light mixed Blue. Their skin was typically inclined to freckling and very fair. 600 BC the Celts come to Ireland Historians are not sure when the Celts came to Ireland and Britain. It is probable that the first important group of Celts came to Ireland from the lands about the Rhine, up the North sea and across Britain to Ireland we believe they came about 600 BC. We can see that Ireland was inhabited from around 6,000BC ( The Cruthin) and that the Celts did not arrive until 600 BC ( 5,400 years later ) The Cruthin the original inhabitants became outnumbered and swamped with the arrival of the Celts, They lost most of their language and were subdued by the Celts, but they still held a presence in Ulster. The Gaelic invasion of Ulster The Uí Néill clan of the Celts invaded Ulster.
The capital of Ulster, Emain Macha (can be seen today as Navan Fort) seems to have fallen to the Uí Néill (O’Neill) or been abandoned by the Ulstermen around 450 AD within Ulster there was a system of tribal alliances, The dominant political grouping were the Ulaid ( from whom Ulster was to get its name ) they were probably a warrior caste of the ( La Tent ) Celts wielding a lordship over indigenous tribes, among those indigenous tribes were the Cruthin the most populous and important of these Pre Celtic peoples who shared in the over-kingship of Ulster. The Cruthin more often than not bore the brunt of the wars against the Uí Néill Celts and at times claimed that they were the ( Fir Ulaid, ) The true Ulstermen. In the far west of Ulster the Uí Néill conquest was the most complete and the Ulster leaders were driven East, in this reduced Kingdom of Ulster they ( The Cruthin ) attempted to stabilize their power with the erection of “Danes Cast” Earthworks as a visible reminder to their adversaries that they were in no respect a spent force. The Cruthin confronted the Uí Néill Celts in 563AD at the battle of Móin Dairi Lothair (Money More) however seven Kings of the Cruthin were killed. The way was now left open for the Uí Néill Celts to expand further into Ulster to what is today county Londonderry. Two years later the Cruthin over-King of Ulster, Aed Dub Mac Suibni slew the Northern Uí Néill King, a battle is also recorded at Coleraine in 579AD. However it was to be the great battle of Moira that the Ulstermen were to make their most determined effort to call a halt to the Uí Néill expansion. Congal Cláen was possibly the greatest of all Cruthin Kings became over-King of Ulster in 627. By 637 Congal had managed to gather around him a Powerful army which included not only Ulstermen but according to Colgan contingents of Pict,s (Scotland) Anglo Saxons (English) and Britons (Welsh). The battle as depicted in later Bardic romances seem to have been a ferocious affair and as well at the land confrontation it included a naval engagement. In 1872 Sir Samuel Ferguson- born in 1810 published his masterpiece “ Congal” based on the bardic romance. ‘Cath Muighe Rath’ ( Battle of Moira ) Congal was slain in the battle and the battle or Moira effectively put an end to any hopes the Ulstermen might have harbored that they could undo the Uí Néill gains, for although the Ulstermen were to still retain their independence in the East of the province for another 500 years the Uí Néill were now firmly entrenched as the dominant power in the North. Many of the Cruthin were absorbed into the Celtic way of life and lost their identity completely, but many had made their way across the narrow sea to Scotland from which many would return some centuries later and become known as the Ulster Scots. When the ancient kindred ( The Cruthin ) returned to Ulster it was as Protestants. Scotland had whole heatedly embraced the reformation but Ireland was Catholic it was unfortunate for Ireland being on the edge of Northern Europe it missed out on three great happenings in Europe namely The Roman influence, The Reformation and The Industrial revolution. The Ulster Scots return to Ulster. The Cruthin ( Scots ) came back to Ulster in three great waves. The First were the border reveres (Cattle rustlers) who lived on the border between Scotland and England they were tough and hard men and lived by the sword, attributes which would serve them well as the frontiersmen and Indian fighters when they eventually sailed from Ulster to the new world (America). They were The Grahams, The Johnstones, The Elliot’s, The Armstrong’s, The Bell’s, etc when the Thrones of England and Scotland became one under James the 1st he quickly clamped down on their activities and they were quick to move to Ulster, Indeed in some cases encouraged by the authorities to do so. The second wave were the hill farmers of Ayrshire and Galloway who one historian describes as “Rising like swarms of Bees from the hill’s of Ayrshire” They were the ones who cultivated the land when they arrived in Ulster. The Third wave were the Presbyterian Covenanters who because of their opposition to the established church they were persecuted and many were put to Death. So here we have the return to Ulster of the ancient kindred (The Cruthin). When they arrived in Ulster things weren’t easy. “ If Chichester was not wholly satisfied with the settlers it cannot be said that in the majority they lacked energy or zeal. During the winter of 1610-16011 they came over by every passage sometimes there were Carpenters and Masons with them let us strive to picture the advent of these little communities. they arrived in the midst of the wet though generally mild winter had to buy carts and teams if by chance they had brought them over with them, after long and anxious preparations the day came when they fared forth into the unknown one can picture the wagons stuck in fords or defiles, till with double teams, they had been hauled out one by one imagine the wayside camp in the rain and mud, watched over by a weary sentinel for in the woods might lurk the woodkerne swordsmen or if not them, there were wolfs to contend with. A welcome sight in the evening must have been the lights of a fort or little town such as Monaghan or Omagh. From the birth of Ulster. by Cyril Fall’s fellow of all souls Oxford. In 1641 the Irish rose up against them and massacred the settlers in Thousands estimates vary as to the number who actually perished, figures vary as low as 12,00 to 35,000 and even higher there is a suspicion that in the present climate there is a tendency to lessen the figures. One thing is certain of those that did die many were tortured and treated atrociously. Oliver Cromwell came to Ireland in 1648 many say to avenge the massacre of the Protestant settlers and this he did in towns throughout Ireland but Dundalk is the one that draws the most attention where 2,600 people died. By 1687 the Protestant settlers were once again under threat and flew to the walled city of Londonderry seeking refuge, the Irish surrounded the city and demanded entry, while the Alderman and the leading lights of the city were deliberating what to do 13 apprentice boys sized the initiative and slammed the gates shut. The resulting siege lasted from the 18th of December 1688 to the 12th August 1689 they ate Cats, Dogs and even Rats, but still 10,000 died behind the walls the relief of Londonderry took place the ship The Mountjoy broke the boom built across the river Foyle and brought much needed provisions to the city. In 1702 Queen Anne ascended to the throne and in who's reign the High church party were pressing for complete conformity to the English ( Episcopalian ) Church. In 1704 the Test act was passed which required all office holders in Ireland to take the sacrament of the Anglican Church. although ostensibly passed to further discourage Catholicism the real object of this act was to place the Presbyterians on the same plane of importance Presbyterian ministers now had no official standing and marriages performed by them were null and void. To the high churchmen they were actually inferior to Catholic priests who were considered lawfully ordained in the line of apostolic succession. Presbyterians and other dissenters could not now serve in the Army ,the Militia, the Civil service, the municipal corporations, the Teaching profession or the commission of the peace. In Belfast the entire Corporation was expelled, and Londonderry lost 10 of its 12 Aldermen (Schism Act ). The time had come for the great Ulster Scots migration to the new world. The great migration to America began around 1717 some folk had gone before, but had turned back, there were usually whole congregations from various Presbyterian churches along with their ministers one ship the Eagle Wing sailed from Groomsport (a seaside town 13 miles from Belfast) in 1638 although they had almost reached America which had been a struggle because of the weather their minister took this as a sign from God that they were not meant to leave Ulster. Those that did arrive in America (250,000) found to their surprise that they were given the appellation, Irish. The Ulster Scots in America were always at great pains to distinguish themselves from the so called native Irish who emigrated, In their religion and culture as in their former homeland they broadly ploughed a different furrow. Parker’s 'History of Londonderry, New Hampshire' from the 18th century relates. “ Although they came to this land from Ireland, where their ancestors had a century before planted themselves, the Scots Irish settlers retained unmixed the national Scots character …Nothing sooner offended them than to be called Irish” The Reverend James McGreger minister of Aghadowey in county Londonderry and a defender of Londonderry during the 1688-1689 siege wrote to Colonel Samuel Shute, Governor of new England colony shortly after his arrival from Ulster in 1718 with several hundred Presbyterians from the Bann valley around Coleraine, Ballymony and Macosquin. “ We are surprised to hear ourselves termed Irish people when we so ventured all for the British crown and liberty.” The Rev Dr John Macintosh of Philadelphia and an Ulsterman made this statement “ From Derry to Down I have lived with them every town and hamlet from the Causeway to Carlingford is familiar to me it has been said that the Ulster Scots settlers mingled with the Celt----The Ulster Scots mingled freely with the English puritans and with the refugee Huguenots; but so far as my search of state papers and old manuscripts, examination of old parish registers and years of personal talk with and study of Ulster folk disclosed—the Scots did not mingle to any appreciable extent with the so called Celtic native Irish.” To this very hour, in the remoter parts of Antrim and Down the country folk will tell you “Were no Eerish bot Scoatch” all their folklore all their tales, their traditions, their songs, their poetry, their heroes and heroines, and their home speech is of the oldest Scots Lowland types and times. The early wave of Ulster Scots families to America had still strong attachments to the British crown but these sentiments largely dissipated over the years of the 18th century and their treatment in Ulster by the British authorities didn’t help Today of the estimated 40 Million people in the United states with “ Irish blood in their veins “ an estimated 56% can trace their roots back to the 18th century Ulster Scots settlers. Paul Blanshard one time head of New York’s department of investigations and accounts, educated at Michigan Harvard and Columbia states: “ Almost all of the original Irish immigrants who came to the 13 Colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries were from Ulster—A fact which Catholic historians are likely to overlook when they discuss the Irish contribution to Americas beginnings—Irish Catholicism in fact made almost no contribution to the Political foundation of the American nation. In 1790 there were only about 25,000 Irish Catholics in the whole United States—less than seven tenths of 1% of the America people and less than 5% of the Irish American population the rest of the 555,000 “ Irishmen ” in the United States where chiefly Protestants of Presbyterian persuasion.” A Massacre which repulsed the settlers Bufords massacre at the Waxshaw region of North Carolina on the 29th May 1780 was the defining moment for many Ulster Scots settlers in the region who until then had not taken sides in the revolutionary war. A patriot force retreating back to Virginia, The 11th Virginia regiment led by Colonel Abraham Buford was caught by Colonel Tarltons British Cavalrymen and nearly obliterated, So savage and merciless was the attack that Tarlton was despised as a “ Butcher ” by the frontier settlers and it led to many of them enrolling in the Militia units that were soon to see action at the Battle of Kings Mountain and Cowpens. The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence drawn up in North Carolina on the 20th May 1775 is widely acknowledged to be the preamble to the American Declaration of Independence of July 4th 1776 and the Ulster Scots settlers were its instigators.Tennessee's three Presidents - Andrew Jackson, James Knox Polk and Andrew Johnson, all of incidentally born in the Carolinas - Jackson at the Waxhaws, Polk in Mecklenburg County, and Johnson at Raleigh, were of the Scots-Irish tradition. In fact, Andrew Jackson was born 18 months after his parents left Carrickfergus in County Antrim in 1765 and he is the nearest that we have to an Ulster-born American President. Presidents, pioneers and performers - From top universities to Tabasco sauce: Most of them were Ulster Scots (people of Scottish origin, often described in the USA as the 'Scotch-Irish') who were taming the wild Frontier and founding great institutions more than a hundred years before the Potato Famine caused a flood of emigration from the rest of Ireland. The offspring of these early Ulster settlers, who today number upwards of 25 million, have been successful in many fields, notably in politics; education; religion; the military; commerce, industry and technological innovation; journalism and literature; the arts and entertainment.
The Declaration of Independence Eight of the 56 signatories of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 were Scots-Irish - John Hancock, William Whipple, Robert Paine, Thomas McKean, Thomas Nelson, Matthew Thornton, George Taylor and Edward Rutledge. The man who printed the Declaration was John Dunlap, from Strabane in County Tyrone and the first public reading was enacted by John Nixon whose father was Ulster born. Frontiersmen, soldiers and politicians Davy Crockett and Sam Houston were of the Scots-Irish tradition - Davy born at Limestone in East Tennessee, the grandson of an Ulster emigrant, and Sam Houston, born near Lexington in Virginia, of second generation Scots-Irish family from County Antrim. Their stories are legendary. The two men who founded the great city of Nashville - John Donelson and James Robertson - were also of County Antrim stock; those sturdy founding fathers of Knoxville - James White, John Adair and George McNutt. There were illustrious churchmen like Revs Samuel Doak, Joseph Rhea, John Craig, William Marlin, William Tennent and Samuel Black, and the first map maker of Tennessee in the early 19th century, Matthew Rhea. And there was Arthur Dobbs, who was instrumental in populating large Ulster-Scots settlements in North Carolina in the 1740s-1750s.
The American Civil War
Many Civil War soldiers of distinction were of Ulster-Scots origin: Thomas John Jonathan'Stonewall' Jackson, J.E.B. Stuart, Ulysses Grant, George Brinton McClellan and Philip Sheridan. In the Carolinas, North and South, it is estimated that 40 per cent of Confederate soldiers were of Scots-Irish lineage. North Carolina suffered the highest casualties of the War - Company 'B' of Jackson's Guards from the Waxhaws, a Scots-Irish stronghold, had the biggest loss of any Confederate unit, 80 killed or wounded at Gettysburg. Others of Scots-Irish roots were Samuel Lanthom Clemens (author Mark Twain), Cyrus McCormick, the man who revolutionised farming; songwriter Stephen Foster, and James Stewart, the Hollywood movie star. The wealthy Hearst publishing family can trace their history back to John Hearst, a County Monaghan Presbyterian who sailed from Newly in County Down in 1764 for a fare of four shillings and eight pence.
Some important quotes
“ The Scotch-Irish held the Valley between the Blue Ridge and the North Mountain and they formed a barrier which none could venture to leap.”
Thomas Jefferson ( United States President )
“ It is Scotch-Irish in substantial origin in complexion and in history, Scotch-Irish in the countenance of the living and the records of the dead.”
Report to the American congress.
“ My Ulster blood is my most precious heritage”
James Buchannan 15th President of the United States. ( 3rd Ulster Scot President ) who’s family left Deroran near Omagh in 1783 eight years before he was born.
“ Our prosperity is largely due to the Ulster people and their descendants and from them the blood line was scattered throughout the South and the South Western United States.
Governor Gilmer, Historian of Georgia.
“ If defeated everywhere else, I will make my last stand for liberty among the
Scots-Irish of my native Virginia.” George Washington ( 1st President of the United States.)
"The Scots-Irish were the first to proclaim for freedom in these United States; even before Lexington Scots-Irish blood had been shed for American freedom. In the forefront of every battle was seen their burnished mail and in the retreat was heard their voice of constancy" President William McKinley
"What race of people do you believe makes the best soldiers?" He replied: "The Scots who came to this country by way of Ireland" Confederacy leader General Robert E. Lee
"It is doubtful if we fully realised the part played by this stem and virile people. They formed the kernel of that American stock who were the pioneers of our people in the march westwards. They were bold and hardy people who pushed the settled regions of America and plunged into the wilderness as the leaders of the white advance. The Presbyterians were the first and last set of immigrants to do this: all others have merely followed in the wake of their predecessors" President Theodore Roosevelt
"The Scots-Irish had a system of religious faith and worship which has ever borne an inflexible front to illusion and mendacity, and has preferred rather to be ground to powder like flint than to bend before violence or melt under enervating temptation", J.A. Froude,19th century historian,
"The beauty about a Scotch-Irishman is that he not only thinks he is right, but he knows he is right" President Woodrow Wilson
"We were apprehensive from the Northern Indians. I therefore thought it might be prudent to plant a settlement of such men as those who formerly had so bravely defended Londonderry and Enniskillen as a frontier in case of any disturbance" James Logan, Ulster-born Secretary of State in Pennsylvania in the early 18th century.
The Ulster Scots who stayed in Ulster.
Back in Ulster things hadn’t improved much for those Presbyterians who had stayed. They formed the “ United Irishmen” ( perhaps the first time that ever that Presbyterians had used that title) together with the Roman Catholics, and rose up in Rebellion against the English authorities. They won a few battles ( at Saintfield etc) but were defeated at Antrim and Ballynahinch their leader Henry Joy McCracken went on the run but was eventually captured and hanged in Belfast. Before he died Henry Joy McCracken heard more bad news.
The Roman catholic “ United Irishmen” in Southern Ireland had turned on the ordinary Protestants living there and committed murder and torture against them.
On the 5th June 1798, 224 Protestants were herded in to a barn at Scollabouge in County Wexford (near new Ross) the barn was then set alight some Children were Piked as they tried to crawl from the barn. Out of the entire number only Three escaped namely Richard Grandy, Lofus Frizzel and Benjamin Lett. Thirty Seven were shot and One Hundred and Eighty Four burned to death.
Scollabouge barn 5th June 1798
On the 19th June 1798 at Wexford bridge on the River Slaney ninety-seven Protestants were executed many were Piked and held up writhing on the Pikes.
Wexford bridge 19th June 1798
While McCracken, Munro, Orr and other leaders in Ulster were inspired by the Revolutions in America and France and the belief that it was a the dawning of a new age, when to quote Robert Burns.” Man to man the World oer shall brothers be” Unfortunately the ‘United Irishmen’ in the South of Ireland were not interested in this ideal, but were fighting instead to establish a ‘Catholic Gaelic Ireland’.
Following the events of 1641, 1688, and 1798 The Protestants had now had enough now turned their backs on the whole concept of a United Ireland no more would their trust be betrayed many turned to the Orange order and joined in their Thousands. In 1816 the Catholics formed the Fenian Brotherhood and launched a raid on Canada trying to provoke an Anglo-American conflict which they hoped would set the scene for an all out revolt in Ireland. In 1886, 1893,and 1912 The British Government introduced so called Home Rule Bills in the House Of Commons when the Third Bill was discussed in Parliament nearly every Unionist ( Protestant ) speaker raised the question of What of Ulster ? , they claimed that there were Two sets of people in Ireland, not only were there Two religions, there were Two Races or even Two Nations in the Country.
So as Congal Cláen and Cuchulain had done centuries before the men of Ulster prepared to take on the “Host’s of Ireland”, as tensions grew meetings were held all over Ulster in Belfast 100,000 turned out to hear their leaders on ‘ Ulster day ’ 28th September 1912. A Solemn League and Covenant for Ulster was organized based on the Scottish Covenant. Lord Edward Carson was the leader of the Ulstermen and he signed the Covenant at the city hall in Belfast where 300,000 people had gathered. All over Ulster ordinary people signed the Covenant and to show how strongly they felt some even signed in their own blood ! When the figures were added up over 450,000 Men and Women had signed the Covenant.
They formed the Ulster Volunteer Force and prepared to take on Britain ( as their Ulster Scots brethren had done in 1776 in America ) if she persisted in forcing her into an all Ireland. Meanwhile in southern Ireland the ‘Host’s of Ireland’ were massing Eion MacNeill formed the Irish Volunteers to fight the Men Of Ulster.
At Larne County Antrim (Ulster) on the night of 24th / 25th April 1914 25,000 Rifles and 3 Million rounds of ammunition were landed from the SS Clydevalley
On the 26th July 1914 back at Howth, ( Southern Ireland ) the Irish Volunteers brought in a total 1,500 Rifles and 45,000 rounds of ammunition on board the Yacht Asgard.
It looked like nothing could avert all out war as the Men of Ulster prepared to defend their homeland once more against the Host’s of Ireland as well as the might of Britain. But fate intervened in the shape of the First World War 1914-1918 and the Men of Ulster and the Men of Ireland both made ready for War with Germany. The Ulstermen were the first into action. The Ulster Volunteer Force now named the 36th ( Ulster) Division.
Lord Carson insisted that Ulster be included in the title Lord Kitchener had resisted this, pointing out that no other Division had a name just the number but Carson won the day and so it was the 36th Ulster Division was born. They had their baptism of Fire at the Somme on the 1st July 1916 3,000 Ulstermen died that day and 2,000 were wounded they won 3 VC,s on the day and they were the only Division that penetrated the German lines and reached their objectives, but the Divisions on either side of them could make no headway and with no support the 36th Ulster Division had to withdraw taking more heavy casualties in the process.
Captain W.B Spender wrote “ I am not an Ulsterman but yesterday the 1st of July, as I followed their amazing attack, I felt I would rather be an Ulsterman than anything else in the World”
The Irish took the field at the battle of the Messines they also fought with great bravery. As the 16th Division one of their officers a Willie Redmond was mortally wounded he was 59 years of age and brother of Irish Nationalist leader John Redmond.
A few months before the Men of the 36th Ulster Division ‘went over the top’ at the Somme, Patrick Pearce led an attack on the Post Office in Dublin and declared a Republic of all Ireland, once again the Irish were insisting on claiming Ulster. After a battle with the British Authorities Pearce, Connolly and others were arrested and executed but Michael Collins who had been involved at the Post office was spared, he swore to fight on, but in a different manner a terror campaign was launched and the British withdrew from the Southern part of Ireland, but what of Ulster? Collins knew it was no use trying to force the Ulstermen into an all-Ireland republic so a compromise was reached. The Six Counties of Ulster would remain apart from the rest of the Island and maintain their own identity ( as Scotland does on the Island of Britain ) but the age old threat to our existence hasn’t gone away, and to this very day the ancient Gaelic aspirations of the conquest and domination of all the whole island and it’s peoples remain. While the Gaelic hordes under the leadership of the Uí Néill ( O’Neill) have long since been replaced by more subtle opponents the aspirations still remain. The Ulster Cruthin will have to be as vigilant as their forebears were. Congal Cláen, Setana ( Cuchulainn the Hound of Ulster ) and the Red Branch Knights.
It is ironic that the English and the Irish who have been at loggerheads with each other for Hundreds of years, both aspire to the same goal – namely the ‘ taking over ’ of the Northern part of their respective Islands…..The Irish would probably support the Scots and the Welsh in their assertion of a separate identity from England - yet in Ireland they play the English role and oppose the idea that Ulster has the right to exist at all …….. Strange Bedfellows.....