Ulster Irish

When you think of Irish immigration to America, most immediately recall the destructive potato blight that, in the middle of the 19th century, forced many Irish families from their lands. This, however, is the second great migration. The first occurred in colonial times, when the Ulster Irish dreamed of the fertile soil and available land of the Thirteen Colonies.
Most of us are unfamiliar with the term Ulster Irish, but we are quite comfortable with a more common term: The Scotch-Irish. And what may come as a shock to many families who hold their Irish American heritage tightly—many of us have quite a bit of Scottish blood flowing through our veins, too.
How can this be when we have Irish names, and know our families emigrated from Ireland. Can we conceivably be Scottish, as well?

The story starts out, as many Irish dramas do, with an Irishman at odds with the British government. The man in question, Con O’Neill, was an Irish chieftain with much land, and an even greater ego. In an attempt at Irish solidarity, he tried to end any English interference or control of Ireland. Though he gathered a large number of troops, and also enlisted the aid of the Spanish. O’Neill eventually lost, was imprisoned and his land was taken by the English as a spoil of war. This land, the northern counties of Ireland known as Ulster, was beautiful, fertile, and sparsely populated. After a series of political maneuverings, the English government decided, “that the lands should be planted with British Protestants, and that no grant of fee farm should be made to any person of mere Irish extraction.”
Thus, Ulster Plantation was formed. The plantation wasn’t a plantation as we think of one today. Instead, it was another example of King James’ penchant for creating colonies, or as he called them, “plantations in foreign lands” (his better known plantation was the 1607 Virginia settlement known as Jamestown).
Ulster Plantation was off to a grand start because the poor farmers of Scotland, who were far from modern in their farming techniques, had managed to destroy the previously fertile soil of the Lowlands. This destruction was so evident, that according to historian Larry D. Smith, the Scotland of the early 1600s was a hardscrabble land so barren that even grass was a rare sight.
Another factor in Ulster Plantation’s success was its geographical proximity to Scotland.
In fact, a close examination of a map of Scotland and Ireland will show that Ulster and Scotland are only separated by 20 watery miles, which made it quite easy for ambitious Scots to reach Ulster. Between 1609 and 1619, some eight thousand Scottish immigrants sought a new home amongst the fertile hills and valleys of Ireland. In fact, by the 1630s, it seems the whole north of Ireland had more Scotsmen than Irishmen. The rush for Emigration was so popular, that according to James G. Leyburn, in his book The Scotch Irish: A Social History, “ships were traveling back and forth (across the channel) with the frequency of a ferry.”
Not surprisingly, the Irish were none too fond of these settlers. To them, the Scots were a vile mixture of “interlopers” and “heretics,” as the Scots preferred protestant religious beliefs over the very Catholic country they now inhabited. This extremely tension fraught environment, combined with a severe drought and an economic downfall, prompted many Ulstermen, as the settlers and their descendents were now known, to board ships bound for America. In fact, Leyburn noted that “more than five thousand Ulstermen … made the journey to the American colonies” in 1717.
By this point, though, the Scots and Irish had been living alongside each other for more than 100 years, and some intermingling invariably happened, though the topic is quite controversial among many historians. It’s hard to ignore, though, the fact that many an Ulstermen came to American shores bearing an Irish surname. For the next sixty years, the Ulster Irish continued to emigrate, and their location of choice was William Penn’s Pennsylvania.
Why? Well, according to Smith, “when considering which colony to make their new homes in, the Ulster- Scots really had only limited choices. The southern colonies were not very enticing with their slave labor and plantation system of agriculture. Nor was Maryland because it had been established as a Roman Catholic colony (sic). Although not Catholic, New York had made it clear to earlier immigrants that she would not tolerate religious diversity. Of the choices between New England and Pennsylvania, the earliest immigrants had been made to feel unwelcome at Boston, the primary port of entry. The single colony that welcomed the Ulster-Scots with open arms was Pennsylvania.”
This is also a popular theory with Leyburn, who believes, “the southern provinces, Virginia and the Carolinas, were hardly considered, for the impoverished Ulstermen would (have) seen nothing attractive in a region of plantations and slave-owning, where the Church of England was established. Maryland had been founded for Roman Catholics, was principally a plantation colony, and now had an Established Church; it was therefore no place for Presbyterians who wanted small farms. New York’s governors were reportedly hard on dissenters, and her lands up the Hudson were owned in great estates. Eliminating these, there remained the Middle colonies and New England (and) reports from Penn’s settlements were enthusiastic as to the quality of land and the treatment of colonists.”
And so, wave after wave of Ulster Irishmen sought the freedom and economic joys of Pennsylvania, and made the Delaware River one of the most traveled waterways in the New World. So poignant was their joy, that “their enthusiastic praise…persuaded others to follow them…until by 1720 ‘to go to America’ meant…to take (a) ship for the Delaware River ports, and then head west. For the entire fifty-eight years of the Great Migration, the large majority of Scotch-Irish made their entry to America through Philadelphia or Chester or New Castle.”
From this tolerant and fertile colony, the Ulster Irish steadily pushed westward and south. They quickly became rugged and capable frontiersman, as they spread across the Appalachian mountain range, whose fingers reach from northeastern Pennsylvania down through Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas. The mountains provided a natural trail, as “the Great Valley lead westward for a hundred miles or more; then when high mountains blocked further easy movement in that direction, the Valley turned southwestward across the Potomac to become the Shenandoah Valley. From the southern terminus of the Valley of Virginia, it was a short trip, by the time the pioneers had reached it, into the Piedmont regions of the Carolinas, where colonists were now warmly welcomed. Within this seven hundred mile arc of back-country, therefore, from Philadelphia as far as the upper Savannah River, most of the Scotch-Irish made their homes.”
The major obstacle to their success? The Native Americans already residing in the area. The Ulster Irish soon adapted to the guerrilla style warfare and combat techniques utilized by the Natives, and after many fierce battles and a few treaties, the land was that of the Ulsters.
These new fighting skills, combined with their innate hatred of the English, were a godsend to George Washington, who managed to spark his exhausted troops with much needed enthusiasm after the “Over the Mountain Boys” (as the Ulster Irish frontiersman were known), soundly defeated the British at the Battle of Kings Mountain. At first, the Ulster Irish were reticent to join the fight, but when Lt. Colonel Patrick Ferguson pushed into the back country and “established a base camp at Gilbertown…. (He) issued a challenge to the Patriot leaders to lay down their arms or he would, ‘Lay waste to their country with fire and sword.’”
Can you say big mistake? Ferguson decided to place his 1,100 troops at the top of Kings Mountain, a spot he considered highly defensible, especially since he believed the 900 Over the Mountain Boys, who had no formal military training or military weaponry, would be more of an annoyance than a real threat. But Ferguson made a major tactical error. He was prepared to fight as if on the fields of Europe, and was unprepared for the guerrilla warfare the Ulsters had learned at the hands of the Native Americans.
Ferguson started off the battle with passion and strength, and yelled to the opposing forces that only God would remove him from the mountain top, but within a few hours, 225 British soldiers were killed, 163 wounded, and another 716 were taken prisoner. And of those 900 untrained and ragtag Ulster boys, only 28 lost their lives at the hands of their mortal enemies. And Ferguson? Well, he was right, in a way. The Ulsters knew that killing Ferguson meant the battle would be won. During the heat of the fighting, Ferguson drew his horse alongside two young men. The first took aim, but his gun jammed; he shouted over to his buddy, Robert Young, “There’s Ferguson. Shoot him,” at which point Young brought his rifle to his shoulder, aimed, and famously said, “I’ll see what ‘Sweet Lips’ can do,” before pulling the trigger. Sweet Lips, it seems, was his sentimental nickname for his two greatest joys: his rifle and his wife.
The Ulster Irish, now recognized as loyal patriots and intrepid fighters, were now a large part of the American population. Some experts believe that there were over two million Ulster Irish by 1776, which made them “the second largest ethnic group in America after the English, and ahead of the Germans.”
Whether you refer to them as Ulster Irish, Ulster Scots, Scotch-Irish, or Scots-Irish, it is apparent that these people were willing to come to a new land, and open it up for others to follow. Their culture is still deeply imbedded in the hills of Appalachia, especially in music, folklore and language. While much of these words are predominantly apparent in southern and rural dialects, some have slipped into our conventional language, too. For example, seisiun became session, as in getting together for music and entertainment. Go leor, meaning plenty, became galore, sean tigh, meaning old house, became shanty, and smidirini, meaning small pieces, became smithereens.
It is difficult to estimate the number of Ulster Irish in America today, as many descendents are unaware of their actual heritage. The 2000 US Census counted approximately 4.9 million Ulsters on American soil; however, some historians believe a more accurate appraisal would be between 23 and 30 million. While many of us are not only unaware that we are of Ulster Irish stock, many more are completely unaware that the Ulster Irish even exist.
Oddly enough, though, the Ulster Irish in America are wildly popular in Ireland. On a recent trip to visit her homeland, Kelly Maher Taylor was startled to find that “The Irish know American history better than the Americans do, and they celebrate it—because it is their own history. It is the story of their children—some who made good, (and) some who did not.” Even more surprising is the existence of the Ulster American Folkpark, located north of Dublin near Omagh. This park is a celebration of those hearty folks who came from Scotland, became one with Ireland, and eventually settled in America. Truly, the Irish could not be more proud of their Ulster Brethren.
Perhaps it’s best to remember the Ulster Irish through this very fitting toast:
Brewed in Scotland,
Bottled in Ireland,
Uncorked in America

By Marjorie McKinstry-Miller