The Plantation of Ulster

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: Scots-Irish Ulster Scots

See: the category for profiles.

The Plantation of Ulster

The Ulster Plantations of 1605-1697 during the reign of the Stuart King James Vl & l, imported a large colony of English and Scottish settlers into Northern Ireland, organized by three categories of landowners.

1. In the first category, land was granted on easy terms to English and Scottish Undertakers who undertook to retain their loyalty to the English Crown and were allowed 1-2000 acres of land on condition they build a fortification, bring in English or Scottish tenants, and take the Oath of Supremacy.

2. The second category of new landowners was that of Servitors. These were British soldiers who had served in Ireland and were granted 1000 acres, and permitted to have Irish tenants.

3. Lastly, there were native Irish Undertakers who were allowed 1-300 acres with similar conditions to English and Scottish Undertakers and Servitors.

Most of the land colonized in Ulster was taken by forfeit from the native Irish chiefs, a number of whom had fled Ireland for mainland Europe following the Nine Years' War against English rule in Ireland. Small private plantation by wealthy landowners began in 1606 in counties Antrim, Down and Monaghan. The Government sponsored plantation of Ulster took place between 1609 and 1690, with about half a million acres of arable land in counties Armagh, Cavan, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Tyrconnell (Donegal) and Derry where the lands of the O’Neills, the O’Donnells and their supporters were confiscated and granted to Scottish and English settlers.

• An Historical Account of the Plantation in Ulster at the Commencement of the Seventeenth Century by George Hill pub: Belfast 1877
• BBC: Wars and Conflict : The Plantation of Ulster has a map showing the pattern of settlement in Ulster
• Wikipedia : Plantation of Ulster
• Ask About Ireland : 1609 Plantation of Ulster