The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is the largest^[5][6] although not the deadliest^[7] loyalist paramilitary and vigilante^[8] group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles". It used the name Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) when it wished to claim responsibility for attacks—because the two claimed to be separate organisations, the UDA was able to remain legal for over twenty years. The United Kingdom outlawed the "UFF" in November 1973 and the UDA itself was classified as a terrorist group on 10 August 1992.^[9]

The UDA's/UFF's declared goal was to defend loyalist areas from attack^[10] and to combat Irish republicanism. However, most of its victims were civilians according to the Sutton Index of Deaths.^[11] The majority of them were Irish Catholics,^[12][13] killed in what the group called retaliation for attacks on Protestants.^[14][15] High-profile attacks carried out by the group include the Milltown massacre, the Castlerock killings and the Greysteel massacre. The UDA/UFF declared a ceasefire in 1994, although sporadic attacks continued until it officially ended its armed campaign in November 2007.^[16]

The UDA were often referred to by their Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) rivals as the "Wombles",^[17] derived from the furry fictional creatures, The Wombles.

The UDA's motto is Quis Separabit, which means Who will separate [us]? in Latin.

History[link]

Beginning[link]

The Ulster Defence Association emerged from a series of meetings during the summer of 1971 of loyalist "vigilante" groups called "defence associations" formed to protect Protestant areas from attacks by Irish republicans.^[18] The largest of these were the Shankill and Woodvale Defence Associations,^[19] with other groups based in East Belfast, the Hammer and Roden Street^[20] The first meeting was chaired by Billy Hull, with Alan Moon as its vice-chair, but Moon was quickly replaced by Jim Anderson and left the organisation by its formal launch in September.^[21] By this point, Charles Harding Smith had become the group's leader, with former soldier Davy Fogel as his second-in-command who had trained the new recruits in military tactics, the use of guns, and unarmed combat. Its most prominent early spokesperson was Tommy Herron,^[18] however Andy Tyrie would emerge as leader soon after.^[22] Its original motto was Cedenta Arma Togae ("Law before violence") and it was a legal organisation until it was banned by the British Government on 10 August 1992.^[18]

At its peak of strength it held around forty thousand members, mostly part-time.^[23][24] During this period of legality, the UDA committed a large number of attacks using the name Ulster Freedom Fighters,^[25][26] including the assassination of Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician Paddy Wilson in 1973.^[27] The UDA was involved in the successful Ulster Workers Council Strike in 1974, which brought down the Sunningdale Agreement—an agreement which some loyalists and unionists thought conceded too much to nationalist demands. The UDA enforced this general strike through widespread intimidation across Northern Ireland. The strike was led by Vanguard Assemblyman and UDA member, Glenn Barr.^[28]

The UDA had several women's units.^[29] The first women's unit was founded on the Shankill Road by Wendy "Bucket" Millar (b. 1944), whose sons Herbie and James "Sham" Millar would later become prominent UDA members.^[30] The UDA women's department was headed by Hester Dunn.^[31] Dunn also ran the Public Relations and administration section at the UDA headquarters. Millar's Shankill Road group was a particularly active women's unit, and another was based in Sandy Row, south Belfast - a traditional UDA stronghold. The latter was commanded by Elizabeth "Lily" Douglas. Her teenaged daughter, Elizabeth was one of the members. The Sandy Row women's UDA unit was disbanded after it carried out a vicious "romper room" punishment beating on 24 July 1974 which left 31-year-old Anne Ogilby dead. Ogilby, a Protestant single mother who had an affair with the husband of one of the unit's members, was found in a ditch five days later. She had suffered 24 blows to the head and body. The killing caused widespread revulsion throughout Northern Ireland and was condemned by the UDA prisoners serving inside the Maze Prison. Douglas, and nine other members of the group were convicted of the murder and were sentenced to imprisonment at Armagh Women's Jail.^[32] The UDA "romper rooms", named after the children's television programme, were places where victims were beaten and tortured prior to being killed. This was known as a "rompering". The "romper rooms" were normally located in disused buildings, lock-up garages, warehouses, and rooms above pubs and drinking clubs.^[33]

The UDA were often referred to as "Wombles" by their rivals, mainly the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). The name is derived from the furry fictional creatures The Wombles, and was given to the UDA because many of its members wore fur-lined anoraks.^[17]

Its headquarters is in Gawn Street, off the Newtownards Road in east Belfast,^[34] and its current motto is Quis Separabit, which is Latin for "Who will separate us?"

Paramilitary campaign[link]

Throughout the majority of its period of legality, the UDA's attacks were carried out under the name "Ulster Freedom Fighters" (UFF). The UDA's campaign of violence began in 1972. In May of that year, the UDA's pressured leader Tommy Herron decided that responsibility for acts of violence committed by the UDA would be claimed by the "UFF". Its first public statements came one month later.^[35]

The UDA's official position during the Troubles was that if the Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA) called off its campaign of violence, then it would do the same. However, if the British government announced that it was withdrawing from Northern Ireland, then the UDA would act as "the IRA in reverse."^[36]

Active throughout the Troubles, its armed campaign gained prominence in the early 1990s through Johnny Adair's ruthless leadership of the Lower Shankill 2nd Battalion, C. Company, which resulted in a greater degree of tactical independence for the UFF.^[37] C. Company's hit squad, led by Stephen McKeag, became notorious for a campaign of random murders of Catholic civilians in the first half of the 1990s.^[38] They benefited, along with the Ulster Volunteer Force, and a group called Ulster Resistance (set up by the Democratic Unionist Party), from a shipment of arms imported from Lebanon in 1988.^[39] The weapons landed included rocket launchers, 200 rifles, 90 pistols and over 400 grenades.^[40] Although almost two–thirds of these weapons were later recovered by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), they enabled the UDA to launch an assassination campaign against their perceived enemies.

A UFF mural in the Sandy Row area of South Belfast

North Belfast UDA brigadier Davy Payne was arrested after his "scout" car had been stopped at a RUC checkpoint and large caches of the weaponry were discovered in the boots of his associates' cars. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

In 1992 Brian Nelson, a prominent UDA member convicted of sectarian killings, revealed that he was also a British Army agent. This led to allegations that the British Army and RUC were helping the UDA to target Irish republican activists. UDA members have since confirmed that they received intelligence files on republicans from British Army and RUC intelligence sources.^[41]

One of the most high profile UDA attacks came in October 1993, when three masked men attacked a restaurant called the Rising Sun in the predominantly Catholic village of Greysteel, County Londonderry, where two hundred people were celebrating Halloween. The two men entered and opened fire. Eight people, including six Catholics and two Protestants were killed and nineteen wounded in what became known as the Greysteel massacre. The UFF claimed the attack was in retaliation to the IRA's Shankill Road bombing which killed nine, seven days earlier.

According to the Sutton database of deaths at the University of Ulster's CAIN project,^[42] the UDA/UFF was responsible for 259 killings during the Troubles. 208 of its victims were civilians (predominantly Catholics), 12 were civilian political activists (mainly members of Sinn Fein, 37 were other loyalist paramilitaries (including 30 of its own members), three were members of the security forces and 11 were republican paramilitaries. A number of these attacks were carried out with the assistance or complicity of the British Army, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, or both, according to the Stevens Enquiry, although the exact number of people killed as a result of collusion has not been revealed. The preferred modus operandi of the UDA was individual killings of select civilian targets in nationalist areas, rather than large-scale bomb or mortar attacks.

The UDA employed various codewords whenever they claimed their attacks. These included: "The Crucible", "Titanic", and "Ulster Troubles". The UFF used the codename of "Captain Black".

Post-ceasefire activities[link]

Its ceasefire was welcomed by the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Paul Murphy and the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Hugh Orde.

A UDA/UFF mural in Belfast

Since the ceasefire, the UDA has been accused of taking vigilante action against alleged drug dealers, including tarring and feathering a man on the Taughmonagh estate in south Belfast.^[43][44] It has also been involved in several feuds with the UVF, which led to many killings. The UDA has also been riddled by its own internecine warfare, with self-styled "brigadiers" and former figures of power and influence, such as Johnny Adair and Jim Gray (themselves bitter rivals), falling rapidly in and out of favour with the rest of the leadership. Gray and John Gregg are amongst those to have been killed during the internal strife. On 22 February 2003, the UDA announced a "12-month period of military inactivity".^[45] It said it would review its ceasefire every three months. The UPRG's Frankie Gallagher has since taken a leading role in ending the association between the UDA and drug dealing.^[46]

Following an August 2005 Sunday World article that poked fun at the gambling losses of one of its leaders, the UDA banned the sale of the newspaper from shops in areas it controls. Shops that defy the ban have suffered arson attacks, and at least one newsagent was threatened with death.^[47] The Police Service of Northern Ireland began accompanying the paper's delivery vans.^[48][49] The UDA was also considered to have played an instrumental role in loyalist riots in Belfast in September 2005.^[50]

On 13 November 2005 the UDA announced that it would "consider its future", in the wake of the standing down of the Provisional IRA and Loyalist Volunteer Force.^[51]

In February 2006, the Independent Monitoring Commission reported UDA involvement in organised crime, drug trafficking, counterfeiting, extortion, money laundering and robbery.^[52]

A UDA/UFF mural in Bangor

On June 20, 2006, the UDA expelled Andre Shoukri and his brother Ihab, two of its senior members who were heavily involved in crime. Some see this as a sign that the UDA is slowly coming away from crime.^[53] The move did see the southeast Antrim brigade of the UDA, which had been at loggerheads with the leadership for some time, support Shoukri and break away under former UPRG spokesman Tommy Kirkham.^[54] Other senior members met with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern for talks on 13 July in the same year.^[55]

On 11 November 2007 the UDA announced that the Ulster Freedom Fighters would be stood down from midnight of the same day,^[56] with its weapons "being put beyond use" although it stressed that these would not be decommissioned.^[57]

Although the group expressed a willingness to move from criminal activity to "community development," the IMC said it saw little evidence of this move because of the views of its members and the lack of coherence in the group's leadership as a result of a loose structure. While the report indicated the leadership intends to follow on its stated goals, factionalism hindered this change. Factionalism was, in fact, said to be the strongest hindrance to progress. The report also said the main non-splintered faction remained active, though it was considerably smaller than the resulting party. Individuals within the group, however, took their own initiative to criminal activity. Although loyalist actions were curtailed, most of the loyalist activity did come from the UDA. The IMC report concluded that the leadership's willingness to change has resulted in community tension and the group would continue to be monitored, although "the mainstream UDA still has some way to go." Furthermore, the IMC warned the group to "recognise that the organisation's time as a paramilitary group has passed and that decommissioning is inevitable." Decommissioning was said to be the "biggest outstanding issue for loyalist leaders, although not the only one."^[58]

A UDA/UFF South-East Antrim Brigade mural in Newtownabbey

On 6 January 2010, the UDA announced that it had put its weapons "verifiably beyond use".^[59] The decommissioning was completed five weeks before a government amnesty deadline beyond which any weapons found could have been used as evidence for a prosecution.^[59] The decommissioning was confirmed by Canadian General John de Chastelain, chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, as well as Lord Eames, former Archbishop of Armagh and Sir George Quigley, former top civil servant.^[60] Chastelain stated that the decommissioning included arms, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices and the UDA stated that the arms "constitute the totality of those under their control".^[59] Following the decommissioning the Ulster Political Research Group, the UDA's political representatives, stated that the "Ulster Defence Association was formed to defend our communities; we state quite clearly and categorically that this responsibility now rests with the Government and its institutions where legitimacy resides".^[60] UDA representative Frankie Gallagher also stated that the group now regretted being responsible for the killing of more than 400 people.^[61]

Shaun Woodward, the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, stated that this "is a major act of leadership by the UDA and further comprehensive evidence of the success of politics over violence in Northern Ireland" and the act was also welcomed by Sinn Féin and DUP politicians.^[62] The President of the Republic of Ireland, Mary McAleese, described the decommissioning as "a very positive milestone on the journey of peace".^[63] US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also welcomed the move as a step towards lasting peace in Northern Ireland.^[64]

South East Antrim breakaway group[link]

The breakaway faction continues to use the "UDA" title in its name, although it too expressed willingness to move towards "community development." Though serious crime is not prevalent among the members, some who were arrested for drug peddling and extortion were exiled by the Brigade. Although a clear distinction between the factions was not available in the 20th IMC report, as this was the first report to differentiate between the two, future reports would tackle the differences.^[58]

Politics[link]

Some UDA leaders supported an independent Northern Ireland in the mid–late 1970s

In the 1970s the group favoured Northern Ireland independence, but they have retreated from this position.^[65]

The New Ulster Political Research Group (NUPRG) was initially the political wing of the UDA, founded in 1978, which then evolved into the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party in 1981 under the leadership of John McMichael, a prominent UDA member killed by the IRA in 1987, amid suspicion that he was set up to be killed by some of his UDA colleagues.

In 1987, the UDA's deputy commander John McMichael (who was then the leader of the UFF) promoted a document titled "Common Sense", which promoted a consensual end to the conflict in Northern Ireland, while maintaining the Union. The document advocated a power sharing assembly, involving both Nationalists and Unionists, an agreed constitution and new Bill of Rights. It is not clear however, whether this programme was adopted by the UDA as their official policy.^[40] However the killing of McMichael that same year and the subsequent removal of Tyrie from the leadership and his replacement with an Inner Council saw the UDA concentrate on stockpiling weapons rather than political ideas.^[66]

In 1989, the ULDP changed its name to the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) and finally dissolved itself in 2001 following very limited electoral success. Gary McMichael, son of John McMichael, was the last leader of the UDP, which supported the signing of the Good Friday Agreement but had poor electoral success and internal difficulties. The Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG) was subsequently formed to give political analysis to the UDA and act as community workers in loyalist areas. It is currently represented on the Belfast City Council.

In early January 1994, the UDA released a document calling for ethnic cleansing and repartition, with the goal of making Northern Ireland wholly Protestant.^[67] The plan was to be implemented should the British Army withdraw from Northern Ireland. The vastly Catholic and nationalist areas would be handed over to the Republic, and those left stranded in the "Protestant state" would be "expelled, nullified, or interned".^[67] The story was printed in The Sunday Independent newspaper on 16 January.^[68] The "doomsday plan" was based on the work of Dr Liam Kennedy, a lecturer at Queen's University Belfast.^[67] In 1986 he had published a book called Two Ulsters: A Case for Repartition; though it did not call for ethnic cleansing. The UDP's Raymond Smallwoods said "I wasn't consulted but the scenario set out is a perfectly plausible one".^[67] The DUP's Sammy Wilson stated that the plan "shows that some loyalist paramilitaries are looking ahead and contemplating what needs to be done to maintain our separate Ulster identity".^[67]

Links with other groups[link]

In his book Black Sun, Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke claimed that the UDA had links with Neo-Nazi groups in Britain—specifically Combat 18^[69] (formed in 1991) and the British National Socialist Movement^[70] (formed in 1985). He claims that members of these groups helped to smuggle weapons for the UDA/UFF. Ian S Wood's book Crimes of Loyalty: A History of the UDA claims that the UDA has received backing from Combat 18, the British National Front and the British National Party.^[71] In 2006, the BBC also reported that the group has links with Combat 18.^[72] It is unknown whether these links still exist. The links may not have been politically motivated, but mutually beneficial arms deals. On one occasion the UDA sent Louis Scott, one of a few black members of the UDA, to make the transaction.^[73]

The Red Hand Defenders is a cover name used by breakaway factions of the UDA/UFF and the LVF.^[1] The term was originally coined in 1997 when members of the LVF carried out attacks on behalf of Johnny Adair's "UFF 2nd Battalion, 'C' Company (Shankill Road)" and vice-versa.^[1] The relationship between the UDA/UFF (specifically Adair's unit, not the wider leadership of the UDA) was initially formed after the death of Billy Wright, the previous leader of the LVF, and Adair's personal friendship with Mark 'Swinger' Fulton, the organisations new chief.

The necessity for a cover name resulted from the need to avoid tensions between the UDA and the UVF, the organisation from which the LVF had broken away. It was perceived that any open co-operation between the UDA and the LVF would anger the UVF, something which proved to be the case in following years and resulted in the infamous 'Loyalist Feud'.^[1] There has been debate as to whether or not the Red Hand Defenders have become an entity in their own right^[74] made up of dissident factions from both the UDA and the LVF (both of which have now declared ceasefires whilst the RHD has not), though much intelligence has been based on the claims of responsibility which, as has been suggested,^[1] are frequently misleading.

Structure and leadership[link]

A UDA mural showing some of the groups it contained or was linked to

The UDA is made up of:

• the Inner Council
• the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)—whose role was to carry out attacks on republican and nationalist targets. However, many regard the UFF as merely a covername used when the UDA wished to claim responsibility for attacks.^[75]
• the Ulster Defence Force (UDF)—whose role was to give "specialist military training" to a select group of UDA members. The UDF was initiated by John McMichael^[76] (the then UDA/UFF commander) in 1985 as a response to the Anglo-Irish Agreement. The UDF operated training camps in rural parts of Northern Ireland that young loyalists such as Johnny Adair claim to have attended.^[76] One reported 'survival' training technique was to leave trainees stranded in Dublin with only £1.^[76] Some of the training was given by former British Army soldiers and officers. It was described by the UDA as "the nucleus of a new loyalist army at the ready".^[77]
• the Ulster Young Militants (UYM)—the "youth wing" of the group. Formed in 1973.^[78]
• the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG)—the UDA's "political advisory body". Formed in 1978.^[79]

The UDA operated a devolved structure of leadership, each with a brigadier representing one of its six "brigade areas".^[76] Currently, it is not entirely clear whether or not this structure has been maintained in the UDA's post cease-fire state. The UDA's six "brigade areas" were:

• North Belfast
• East Belfast
• South Belfast
• West Belfast
• Southeast [County] Antrim
• North [County] Antrim & [County] Londonderry

In addition to these six core brigades two others may have existed. A seventh Mid-Ulster Brigade is mentioned by Steve Bruce as having existed for part of the UDA's history^[80] although Henry McDonald and Jim Cusack characterise this as a "battalion" rather than a brigade and suggest that its rural location prevented it from fully developing.^[81] In the late 1970s a Scottish Brigade was established under the command of Roddy McDonald but this proved short-lived. The security forces infiltrated this brigade almost immediately and in 1979 arrested almost its entire membership, ninety people in all. Six members received particularly lengthy prison sentences for their involvement in UDA activities in Perth and the Scottish Brigade quietly disappeared.^[82]

Some of the notable past brigadiers include:

Jackie McDonald—South Belfast (~1980s-present)^[83] Resident of the Taughmonagh estate in South Belfast.^[83] McDonald was a cautious supporter of the UDA's ceasefire and a harsh critic of Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair during his final years of membership of the organisation.^[83] McDonald remains the only brigadier who did not have a commonly used nickname.

Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair—West Belfast (1990–2002)^[76] An active figure in the UDA/UFF, Adair rose to notoriety in the early 1990s when he led the 2nd Battalion, C Company unit in West Belfast which was responsible for one of the bloodiest killing sprees of the Troubles.^[76]

Jim 'Doris Day' Gray—East Belfast (1992–2005)^[76][84] An unlikely figure in Northern Ireland loyalism, the openly bi-sexual^[76] Gray was a controversial figure in the organisation until his death on 4 October 2005. Always flamboyantly dressed, Gray was a key figure in the UDA's negotiations with Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid. It is widely believed that Gray received his nickname from the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Special Branch.^[76]

Jimbo 'Bacardi Brigadier' Simpson—North Belfast (Unknown–2002)^[76] Simpson is believed to have been an alcoholic, hence his nickname. He was leader of the UDA in the volatile North Belfast area, an interface between Catholics and Protestants in the New Lodge and Tiger's Bay neighbourhoods.^[76]

Billy 'The Mexican' McFarland—North Antrim and Londonderry (Unknown–Unknown)^[76] He Earned his nickname because of his moustache and swarthy appearance, and had overall command of the UDA's North Antrim and Derry brigade at the time of the Good Friday Agreement. He supported the leadership against Johnny Adair and has been associated with the magazine 'Warrior', which makes the case for Ulster Independence

Andre 'The Egyptian' Shoukri^[76]—North Belfast (2002–2005)^[76] Initially a close ally of Johnny Adair, Shoukri and his brother Ihab became involved with the UDA in his native North Belfast. The son of an Egyptian father and a Northern Irish mother, he was expelled from the UDA in 2005 following allegations of criminality.

John 'Grug' Gregg—South East Antrim (c.1993^[85]–2003) John 'Grug' Gregg was a man with a fearsome reputation within the loyalist movement, known as a "Hawk" in loyalist circles, and controlled the streets of south east Antrim. On March 14, 1984, he severely wounded Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams in an assassination attempt for which he was jailed. When asked by the BBC in prison if he regretted anything about the shooting, his reply was "only that I didn't succeed." He was killed on Belfast's Nelson Street, along with another UDA member (Rab Carson), while travelling in a taxi from the docks in 2003, and the murder was blamed on supporters of Johnny Adair, who had recently been expelled from the UDA in 2002.

Deaths as a result of activity[link]

UDA South Belfast Brigade memorial plaque in Sandy Row

According to Malcolm Sutton's Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland (part of the CAIN database), the UDA/UFF was responsible for 260 killings during "the Troubles", between 1969 and 2001:^[11]

Sutton's database also records that 89 UDA members were killed during this period.^[86]

See also[link]

• Real Ulster Freedom Fighters
• Timeline of Ulster Defence Association actions
• Ulster Volunteer Force

References[link]

Constructs such as ibid., loc. cit. and idem are discouraged by Wikipedia's style guide for footnotes, as they are easily broken. Please improve this article by replacing them with named references (quick guide), or an abbreviated title. (July 2010)

Further reading[link]

• Ian S. Wood, Crimes of Loyalty: A History of the UDA
• Colin Crawford, Inside the UDA: Volunteers and Violence, 2003.
• Steve Bruce, The Red Hand, 1992, ISBN 0-19-215961-5
• Ed Moloney, The Secret History of the IRA
• Brendan O'Brien, The Long war, the IRA and Sinn Féin

External links[link]

• Ulster Defence Association
• Ulster Defence Association YouTube

Ulster Ulaidh / Cúige Uladh Ulstèr
Flag
Sovereign states	United Kingdom Ireland
Counties	Antrim (UK) Armagh (UK) Cavan (IE) Donegal (IE) Down (UK) Fermanagh (UK) Londonderry (UK) Monaghan (IE) Tyrone (UK)
Government
• Teachtaí Dála & MPs	8 DUP MPs 8 Sinn Féin TDs/MPs 5 Fine Gael TDs 3 SDLP MPs 2 Fianna Fáil TDs 1 Alliance MP 2 Independent TDs/MPs
Area
• Total	21,552 km2 (8,275 sq mi)
Population (2011 estimate)
• Total	2,106,296[a]
a. ^ The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency[1] estimate for 2011 combined with the preliminary results of Census of Ireland 2011 for Ulster (part of).[2]

Ulster (Irish: Ulaidh or Cúige Uladh, Ulster Scots: Ulstèr^[3][4][5] or Ulster)^[6][7][8] is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" Irish: rí ruirech. In modern times, clusters of counties have been attributed to certain provinces but these clusters have no legal status. The province itself, while enjoying common usage and forming a strong part of local identity, has no official function for local government purposes.

Ulster is composed of nine counties. Six of these (almost 57% of the land area) make up Northern Ireland: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone. The three remaining counties (about 43% of the land area) are in the Republic of Ireland: Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan.

Terminology[link]

The name Ulster derives from the Irish Cúige Uladh (IPA: [ˈkuːɟ ˈʌlˠu, ˈʌlˠi]) meaning "The fifth of Uladh", a reference to the five regions into which ancient Ireland was divided. In the English language, the first part of the name ("Ul")refers to the Ulaidh tribes inhabiting this northernmost region. The latter part of the name ("ster") derives either from the Irish tír or the Old Norse staðr, both of which translate as "land" or "territory".

Ulaidh (or Cúige Uladh) has historically been anglicized as Ulagh or Ullagh^[9] and Latinized as Ulidia or Ultonia.^[10] The latter two have yielded the terms Ulidian and Ultonian. The Irish word for someone or something from Ulster is Ultach. Words that have been used in English are Ullish and Ulsterman/Ulsterwoman.

Northern Ireland is often referred to as 'Ulster',^[11] despite including only six of Ulster's nine counties. This usage is most common amongst people in Northern Ireland who are unionist,^[12] although it is also used by the media throughout the United Kingdom.^[13][14] Some people, mainly Irish nationalists, object to this use of the term.^[12]

Geography and demographics[link]

Ulster (coloured) showing the Northern Ireland part in pink and the Republic of Ireland part in green

Ulster has a population of just over 2 million people and an area of 21,552 square kilometres (8,321 sq mi). Its biggest city, Belfast has an urban area of over half a million inhabitants. Six of Ulster's nine counties, Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone, form Northern Ireland and remained part of the United Kingdom after the partition of Ireland in 1921. Three Ulster counties, Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan, form part of the Republic of Ireland. About half of Ulster's population lives in Counties Antrim and Down. Across the nine counties, according to the aggregate UK 2001 Census for Northern Ireland, and Irish 2002 Census for counties Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan, there is a very slim Catholic plurality over Protestant (49% against 48%), but not an overall majority (people of neither religion, "no religion" or those "not stating" religion making up the balance). The traditional counties of Northern Ireland are now ceremonial, with day-to-day administration in 26 districts

The biggest lake in Ireland, and in the United Kingdom, Lough Neagh, lies in eastern Ulster. The province's highest point, Slieve Donard (848 metres (2,782 ft)), stands in County Down. The most northerly point in Ireland, Malin Head, is in County Donegal, as are the sixth-highest (601 metres (1,972 ft)) sea cliffs in Europe, at Slieve League. The longest river in Ireland, the Shannon, rises at the Shannon Pot in County Cavan with underground tributaries from County Fermanagh. Volcanic activity in eastern Ulster led to the formation of the Antrim Plateau and the Giant's Causeway, one of the island's three UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The geographical centre of Ulster lies between the villages of Pomeroy and Carrickmore in County Tyrone. In terms of area, County Donegal is the largest county in all of Ulster. The two largest cities in the province are Belfast and Derry. Belfast is Ireland's second largest city, and the largest in Northern Ireland.

Access and transport[link]

Air access[link]

The province's main airport is Belfast International Airport (popularly called Aldergrove Airport), which is located at Aldergrove, near Antrim Town. George Best Belfast City Airport (sometimes referred to as "the City Airport" or "the Harbour Airport") is another, smaller airport in the same which is located at Sydenham. The City of Derry Airport is located at Eglinton on the eastern outskirts of the city of Derry serving the city and the counties of Londonderry, western Tyrone and eastern Donegal. The west Donegal Gaeltacht area is served by Donegal Airport (Irish: Aerfort Dhún na nGall. Popularly known as Carrickfinn Airport), which is located in The Rosses.

Rail access[link]

The majority of the railway lines operational today are run by Northern Ireland Railways (N.I.R.). The two most important lines are: firstly, the Belfast-Derry railway line connecting Derry's Waterside Station, via Coleraine, with Belfast Central and Belfast Great Victoria Street; and secondly, the jointly operated Enterprise run by N.I.R. and Iarnród Éireann, connecting Belfast Central to Dublin Connolly.

Main railway lines linking to and from Belfast Great Victoria Street and Belfast Central are:

• The Derry Line and the Portrush Branch.
• The Larne Line
• The Bangor Line
• The Portadown Line

The historic Great Northern Railway of Ireland would have connected the counties that have no mainline railway at present.

Ulster's counties without mainline railways are County Cavan, County Monaghan, County Fermanagh, County Tyrone and County Donegal. Waterside Station in Derry is the closest railway station to County Donegal.

Counties[link]

Counties shaded in grey are in the Republic of Ireland. Counties shaded in pink are in Northern Ireland.

Largest settlements[link]

Settlements in Ulster with at least 25,000 inhabitants, listed in order of population:

• Belfast (276,459)
• Derry Urban Area (90,663)
• Bangor (76,403)
• Lisburn (71,465)
• Newtownabbey (62,056)
• Craigavon Urban Area (57,685)
• Portadown (30,000)
• Ballymena (28,717)
• Newtownards (27,821)
• Newry (27,433)
• Carrickfergus (27,201)
• Lurgan (25,000)

Languages and dialects[link]

Most people in Ulster speak English. Irish is the next most commonly spoken language. The language is taught in all schools in the counties that are part of the Republic. In responses to the 2001 census in Northern Ireland 10% of the population had "some knowledge of Irish",^[15] 4.7% to "speak, read, write and understand" Irish.^[15] Large parts of County Donegal are Gaeltacht areas where Irish is the first language and some people in west Belfast also speak Irish, especially in the 'Gaeltacht Quarter'.^[16] The dialect of Irish (Gaeilge) most commonly spoken in Ulster (especially throughout Northern Ireland and County Donegal) is Gaeilge Thír Chonaill or Donegal Irish, also known as Gaeilge Uladh or Ulster Irish. Donegal Irish has many similarities to Scottish Gaelic. Cantonese forms the third most common language, mostly due to the considerable Chinese community of Belfast, the province's largest city. Ulster Scots (a dialect of Scots which is also sometimes known by the neologism Ullans) is also spoken in County Down and The Ards, County Antrim, County Londonderry and County Donegal.^[17]

Prehistory[link]

The archaeology of Ulster, formerly called Ulandia, gives examples of "ritual enclosures", such as the "Giant's Ring" near Belfast, which is an earth bank about 590 feet in diameter and 15 feet high, in the centre of which there is a dolmen (Riordain, 66).^[18]

History and politics[link]

Early history[link]

Ulster is one of the four Irish provinces. Its name derives from the Irish language Cúige Uladh (pronounced "Kooi-gah UH-loo"), meaning "'fifth' of the Ulaidh", named for the ancient inhabitants of the region.

The province's early story extends further back than written records and survives mainly in legends such as the Ulster Cycle.

In early medieval Ireland, the Uí Néill dynasty displaced the Ulaidh and dominated Ulster from their base in Tír Eóghain, most of which forms modern County Tyrone. Among the High Kings of Ireland were Áed Findliath (died 879), Niall Glúndub (died 919), and Domnall ua Néill (died 980), all of the Cenél nEógain branch of the Uí Néill. Their descendants took the surname Mac Lochlainn (McLaughlin), ruling the kingdom of Ailech.

A bronze statue commemorating The Flight of the Earls in County Donegal.

Domnall Ua Lochlainn (died 1121) and Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn (died 1166) were of this dynasty. The Mac Lochlainn were in 1241 overthrown by their cousins, the clan Ó Néill (see O'Neill dynasty). The Ó Néill's were from then on established as Ulster's most powerful Gaelic family.

The Ó Domhnaill (O'Donnell) dynasty were Ulster's second most powerful clan from the early thirteenth-century through to the beginning of the seventeenth-century. The O'Donnells ruled over Tír Chonaill (most of modern County Donegal) in West Ulster.

After the Norman invasion of Ireland in the twelfth century, the east of the province fell by conquest to Norman barons, first De Courcy (died 1219), then Hugh de Lacy (1176–1243), who founded the Earldom of Ulster based on the modern counties of Antrim and Down.

However, by the end of the 14th century the Earldom had collapsed and Ulster had become the only Irish province completely outside of English control.

In the 1600s Ulster was the last redoubt of the traditional Gaelic way of life, and following the defeat of the Irish forces in the Nine Years War (1594–1603) at the battle of Kinsale (1601), Elizabeth I's English forces succeeded in subjugating Ulster and all of Ireland.

The Gaelic leaders of Ulster, the O'Neills and O'Donnells, finding their power under English suzerainty limited, decamped en masse in 1607 (the Flight of the Earls) to Roman Catholic Europe. This allowed the English Crown to plant Ulster with more loyal English and Scottish planters, a process which began in earnest in 1610.

Plantations and civil wars[link]

The Plantation of Ulster (Irish: Plandáil Uladh) was the organised colonisation (or plantation) of Ulster by people from Great Britain (especially Presbyterians from Scotland). Private plantation by wealthy landowners began in 1606,^[19][20][21] while the official plantation controlled by King James I of England (who was also King James VI of Scots) began in 1609. All land owned by Irish chieftains, the Ó Neills and Ó Donnells (along with those of their supporters), who fought against the English Crown in the Nine Years War, were confiscated and used to settle the colonists. The Counties Tyrconnell, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Cavan, Coleraine and Armagh comprised the official Colony^[22] however most of the counties including the most heavily colonized Counties Antrim and Down were privately colonised.^[19][20][21] These counties, though not officially designated as subject to Plantation, had suffered violent de-populatation during the previous wars and proved attractive to Private Colonialists from nearby Britain.

The official reason for the Plantation is said to have been to pay for the costly Nine Years' War,^[23] but this view was not shared by all in the new 'British' establishment of the time, most notably the English Crown-appointed Attorney-General for Ireland in 1609, Sir John Davies:

A barbarous country must be first broken by a war before it will be capable of good government ; and when it is fully subdued and conquered, if it be not well planted and governed after the conquest, it will eftsoons return to the former barbarism^[24]

The Plantation of Ulster continued well into the 18th century, interrupted only by the Irish Rebellion of 1641. This Rebellion was initially led by Sir Phelim O'Neill (Irish: Sir Féilim Ó Néill), and was intended to overthrow British rule rapidly, but quickly degenerated into attacks on Colonialists, in which dispossessed Irish slaughtered thousands of the Colonialists. In the ensuing wars (1641–1653, fought against the background of civil war in England, Scotland and Ireland), Ulster became a battleground between the Colonialists and the native Irish. In 1646, an Irish army under command by Owen Roe O'Neill (Irish: Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill) inflicted a defeat on a Scottish Covenanter army at Benburb in County Tyrone, but the native Irish forces failed to follow up their victory and the war lapsed into stalemate. The war in Ulster ended with the defeat of the native army at the Battle of Scarrifholis, near Newmills on the western outskirts of Letterkenny, County Donegal, in 1650, as part of the Cromwellian Conquest of Ireland conducted by Oliver Cromwell and the New Model Army, the aim of which was to expel all native Irish to the Province of Connaught^[25]

Forty years later, in 1688-1691, the Williamite War was fought, the belligerents of which were the Williamites and Jacobites. The war was partly due to a dispute over who was the rightful claimant to the British Throne, and thus the supreme monarch of the nascent British Empire. However, the war was also a part of the greater War of the Grand Alliance, fought between King Louis XIV of France and his allies, and a European-wide coalition, the Grand Alliance, led by Prince William of Orange and Emperor Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire, supported by the Vatican and many other states. The Grand Alliance was a cross-denominational alliance designed to stop French eastward colonialist expansion under Louis XIV, with whom King James II was allied.

The majority of Irish people were ("Jacobites") and supported James II due to his 1687 Declaration of Indulgence or, as it is also known, The Declaration for the Liberty of Conscience, that granted religious freedom to all denominations in England and Scotland and also due to James II's promise to the Irish Parliament of an eventual right to self determination.^[26][27] However, James II was deposed in the Glorious Revolution, and the majority of Ulster Colonialists (Williamites) backed William of Orange. It is of note that both the Williamite and Jacobite armies were religiously mixed; William of Orange's own elite forces, the Dutch Blue Guards had a papal banner with them during the invasion, many of them being Dutch Catholics.^[28]

At the start of the war, Irish Jacobites controlled most of Ireland for James II, with the exception of the Williamite strongholds at Derry and at Enniskillen in Ulster. The Jacobites besieged Derry from December 1688 to July 1689, ending when a Williamite army from Britain relieved the city. The Williamites based in Enniskillen defeated another Jacobite army at the battle of Newtownbutler on July 28, 1689. Thereafter, Ulster remained firmly under Williamite control and William's forces completed their conquest of the rest of Ireland in the next two years. The war provided Protestant loyalists with the iconic victories of the Siege of Derry, the Battle of the Boyne (1 July 1690) and the Battle of Aughrim (12 July 1691), all of which the Orange Order commemorate each year.

The Williamites' victory in this war ensured British rule in Ireland for over 200 years. The Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland excluded most of Ulster's population from having any Civil power on religious grounds. Roman Catholics (descended from the indigenous Irish) and Presbyterians (mainly descended from Scottish Colonialists) both suffered discrimination under the Penal Laws, which gave full political rights only to Anglican Protestants (mostly descended from English settlers). In the 1690s, Scottish Presbyterians became a majority in Ulster, due to a large influx of them into the Province.

Emigration[link]

Considerable numbers of Ulster-Scots immigrated to the North America]n colonies throughout the 18th century (160,000 settled in what would become the United States between 1717 and 1770 alone).

Disdaining (or forced out of) the heavily English regions on the Atlantic coast, most groups of Ulster-Scots settlers crossed into the "western mountains," where their descendants populated the Appalachian regions and the Ohio Valley. Here they lived on the frontiers of America, carving their own world out of the wilderness. The Scotch-Irish soon became the dominant culture of the Appalachians from Pennsylvania to Georgia. Author (and U.S. Senator) Jim Webb puts forth a thesis in his book Born Fighting to suggest that the character traits he ascribes to the Scotch-Irish such as loyalty to kin, mistrust of governmental authority, and a propensity to bear arms, helped shape the American identity.

In the United States Census, 2000, 4.3 million Americans claimed Scotch-Irish ancestry. Interestingly, the areas where the most Americans reported themselves in the 2000 Census only as "American" with no further qualification (e.g. Kentucky, north-central Texas, and many other areas in the Southern US) are largely the areas where many Scotch-Irish settled, and are in complementary distribution with the areas which most heavily report Scotch-Irish ancestry.

According to the Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, 400,000 people in the U.S. were of Irish birth or ancestry in 1790 when the first U.S. Census counted 3,100,000 white Americans. According to the encyclopedia, half of these Irish Americans were descended from Ulster, and half from the other three provinces of Ireland.

Republicanism, rebellion and communal strife[link]

Most of the 18th century saw a calming of sectarian tensions in Ulster. The economy of the province improved, as small producers exported linen and other goods. Belfast developed from a village into a bustling provincial town. However, this did not stop many thousands of Ulster people from emigrating to British North America in this period, where they became known as "Scots Irish" or "Scotch-Irish".

Political tensions resurfaced, albeit in a new form, towards the end of the 18th century. In the 1790s many Catholics and Presbyterians, in opposition to Anglican domination and inspired by the American and French revolutions joined together in the United Irishmen movement. This group (founded in Belfast) dedicated itself to founding a non-sectarian and independent Irish republic. The United Irishmen had particular strength in Belfast, Antrim and Down. Paradoxically however, this period also saw much sectarian violence between Catholics and Protestants, principally members of the Church of Ireland (Anglicans, who practised the British state religion and had rights denied to both Presbyterians and Catholics), notably the "Battle of the Diamond" in 1795, a faction fight between the rival "Defenders" (Catholic) and "Peep O'Day Boys" (Anglican), which led to over 100 deaths and to the founding of the Orange Order. This event, and many others like it, came about with the relaxation of the Penal Laws and Catholics began to be allowed to purchase land and involve themselves in the linen trade (activities which previously had involved many onerous restrictions). Protestants, including some Presbyterians, who in some parts of the province had come to identify with the Catholic community, used violence to intimidate Catholics who tried to enter the linen trade. Estimates suggest that up to 7000 Catholics suffered expulsion from Ulster during this violence. Many of them settled in northern Connacht. These refugees' linguistic influence still survives in the dialects of Irish spoken in Mayo, which have many similarities to Ulster Irish not found elsewhere in Connacht. Loyalist militias, primarily Anglicans, also used violence against the United Irishmen and against Catholic and Protestant republicans throughout the province.