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.

In 1798 the United Irishmen, led by Henry Joy McCracken, launched a rebellion in Ulster, mostly supported by Presbyterians. But the British authorities swiftly put down the rebellion and employed severe repression after the fighting had ended. In the wake of the failure of this rebellion, and following the gradual abolition of official religious discrimination after the Act of Union in 1800, Presbyterians came to identify more with the State and with their Anglican neighbors, due to their civil rights now being respected by both the state and their Anglican Neighbors.

Industrialisation, Home Rule and partition[link]

Royal Avenue, Belfast. Photochrom print circa 1890-1900.

In the 19th century, Ulster had the only large-scale industrialisation and became the most prosperous province on the island. In the latter part of the century, Belfast overtook Dublin as the island's largest city. Belfast became famous in this period for its huge dockyards and shipbuilding — and notably for the construction of the RMS Titanic. Sectarian divisions in Ulster became hardened into the political categories of unionist (supporters of the Union with Britain; mostly, but not exclusively, Protestant) and nationalist (advocates of the Repeal of the Bill of Union 1900 ; usually, though not exclusively, Catholic). Northern Ireland's current politics originate from these late 19th century disputes over Home Rule that would have devolved some powers of government to Ireland, and which Ulster Protestants usually opposed—fearing for their religious rights calling it "Rome Rule" in an autonomous Catholic-dominated Ireland and also not trusting politicians from the agrarian south and west to support the more industrial economy of Ulster. This lack of trust however was largely unfounded as during the 19th and early 20th century important industries in the southern most region of Cork, included brewing, distilling, wool and like Belfast, shipbuilding.^[29]

Thousands of unionists, led by the Dublin-born barrister Sir Edward Carson and James Craig, signed the "Ulster Covenant" of 1912 pledging to resist Home Rule. This movement also set up the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). In April 1914, the UVF assisted with the landing of 30,000 German rifles with 3,000,000 rounds at Larne by blockading authorities. (See Larne gunrunning). The Curragh Incident showed it would be difficult to use the British army to enforce home rule from Dublin on Ulster's unionist minority.

In response, Irish nationalists created the Irish Volunteers, part of which later became the forerunner of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) — to seek to ensure the passing of the Home Rule Bill.

Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme in World War I.

Upon the outbreak of World War I in 1914, 200,000 Irishmen, both Southern and Northern, of all religions sects volunteered to serve in the British Army. This had the effect of interrupting the armed stand-off in Ireland. As the war progressed, in Ireland, opposition to the War grew stronger, reaching its peak in 1918 when the British government proposed laws to extend conscription to all able bodied Irishmen during the Conscription Crisis.

In the aftermath of the War, Ireland saw several years of political violence, with Irish nationalists launching a guerrilla campaign against British rule as part of the Anglo-Irish War (January 1919–July 1921). In Ulster, the fighting generally took the form of street battles between Protestants and Catholics in the city of Belfast. Estimates suggest that about 600 civilians died in this communal violence, the majority of them (58%) Catholics. The IRA remained relatively quiescent in Ulster, with the exception of the south Armagh area, where Frank Aiken led it. A lot of IRA activity also took place at this time in County Donegal and the City of Derry, where one of the main Republican leaders was Peadar O'Donnell. Hugh O'Doherty, a Sinn Féin politician, was elected mayor of Derry at this time. In the First Dáil, which was elected in late 1918, Prof. Eoin Mac Néill served as the Sinn Féin T.D. for Derry city.

Partition of Ireland, first mooted in 1912, was introduced with the enactment of the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which gave self-government to six of Ulster's north-eastern counties within the UK. This was confirmed by the Anglo-Irish Treaty (6 December 1921) which ended in the partition of Ireland between the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) and Northern Ireland. Hostilities formally ceased on July 11, 1921. Low-level violence, however, continued in Ulster, causing Michael Collins to order a boycott of Northern products in protest at attacks on the Catholic/Nationalist community. When the Irish Free State came into existence in 1922, the Northern Ireland Parliament (already in existence) was given the option to 'opt out', which it did. For the subsequent general history of Ulster see History of Northern Ireland and History of the Republic of Ireland.

Current politics[link]

Electorally, voting in the six Northern Ireland counties of Ulster tends to follow religious or sectarian lines; noticeable religious demarcation does not exist in the South Ulster counties of Cavan and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. County Donegal is largely a Catholic county, but with a large Protestant minority. Generally, Protestants in Donegal vote for Fine Gael.^[30] However, religious sectarianism in politics has largely disappeared from the rest of the Republic of Ireland. This was illustrated when Erskine H. Childers, a Church of Ireland member and Teachta Dála (TD, a member of the lower house of the National Parliament) who had represented Monaghan, won election as President after having served as a long-term minister under Fianna Fáil Taoisigh Éamon de Valera, Seán Lemass and Jack Lynch.

The Orange Order freely organises in counties Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan, with several Orange parades taking place throughout County Donegal each year. The only Orange Order march in the Republic of Ireland takes place every July in thevillage of Rossnowlagh, near Ballyshannon, in south of County Donegal.

As of 2006^[update], Northern Ireland has eight Catholic Members of Parliament (of a total of 18 from the whole of Northern Ireland) in the British House of Commons at Westminster; and the other three counties have one Protestant T.D. of the ten it has elected to Dáil Éireann, the Lower House of the Oireachtas, the parliament of the Republic of Ireland. At present (August 2007) County Donegal sends six T.D.'s to Dáil Éireann. The county is divided into two constituencies: Donegal North-East and Donegal South-West, each with three T.D.'s. County Cavan and County Monaghan form the one constituency called Cavan-Monaghan, which sends five T.D.'s to the Dáil (one of whom is a Protestant). The Republic's parties have long ceased to base their selection of candidates purely on any religious criteria.

The historic Flag of Ulster served as the basis for the Ulster Banner (often referred to as the Flag of Northern Ireland), which was the flag of the Government of Northern Ireland until the proroguing of the Stormont parliament in 1973.

Irish language[link]

There are 29,199 Irish language speakers, with 14,456 native speakers in the Donegal Gaeltacht (areas where 30-100% of the population are native speakers) while 1,427 are living in areas where it is spoken by less than 30%.^{[citation needed]} There is also the 5,339 attending the 44 Gaelscoils (Irish language primary schools) and 7 Gaelcholáiste (Irish language secondary schools) across the province.^{[citation needed]} According to the Irish Census 2006 there are 7,977 daily speakers outside the education system in the province.

Sport[link]

In Gaelic games (which include Gaelic football and hurling), Ulster counties play the Ulster Senior Football Championship and Ulster Senior Hurling Championship. In football, the main competitions in which they compete with the other Irish counties are the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and National Football League, while the Ulster club champions represent the province in the All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship. Hurling teams play in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, National Hurling League and All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship. The whole province fields a team to play the other provinces in the Railway Cup in both football and hurling. Gaelic Football is by far the most popular of the GAA sports in Ulster but hurling is also played, especially in Antrim, Armagh, Derry, and Down.

The border has divided association football teams since 1921.^[31] The Irish Football Association oversees the sport in NI while the Football Association of Ireland oversees the sport in the Republic. As a result, separate international teams are fielded and separate championships take place (Irish Football League in Northern Ireland, League of Ireland in the rest of Ulster and Ireland). Anomalously, Derry City F.C. has played in the League of Ireland since 1985 due to crowd trouble at some of their Irish League matches prior to this. The other major Ulster teams in the League of Ireland is Finn Harps of Ballybofey, County Donegal and Monaghan United from Monaghan. There have been cup competitions between FAI and IFA clubs, most recently the Setanta Sports Cup.

In Rugby union, the professional rugby team representing the province and the IRFU Ulster Branch, Ulster Rugby compete in the RaboDirect PRO12 along with teams from Wales, Scotland, Italy and the other Irish Provinces (Leinster, Munster and Connacht). They also compete in Europe's main club rugby tournament, the Heineken Cup, which they won back in 1999. Notable Ulster rugby players include Willy John McBride, Jack Kyle and Mike Gibson. The former is the most capped British and Irish Lion of all time, having completed four tours with the Lions in the sixties and seventies.

Cricket is also played in Ulster, especially in Northern Ireland and East Donegal. The game is mainly played and followed by members of the Protestant community.^[32]

Golf is however by far the most high profile sport and the sport that Ulster has succeeded at more than any other. Ulster has produced many great players over the years, from Fred Daly winning The Open Champiionship in 1947 at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake to most recently Rory McIlroy winning the US Open and Darren Clarke winning The Open Championship in 2011. Ulster also has another Major winner in Graeme McDowell who also won the US Open in 2010.

In Horse racing, specifically National Hunt Ulster has produced the most domnant jockey of all time Tony McCoy.

References noted[link]

General references[link]

The Ulster Countryside. Deane, C.Douglas. 1983. Century Books. ISBN 0-903152-17-7

Further reading[link]

• Faulkner, J. and Thompson, R. 2011. The Natural History of Ulster. National Museums of Northern Ireland. Publication No. 026. ISBN 0-900761-49-0
• Morton, O. 1994. Marine Algae of Northern Ireland. Ulster Museum, Belfast. ISBN 0-900761-28-8
• Stewart and Corry's Flora of the North-east of Ireland. Third edition. Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast
• Luca Bellocchio, Irlanda del Nord. Un conflitto etnico nel cuore dell'Europa, Roma, Meltemi, 2006

See also[link]

• Ulster nationalism
• Northern Ireland
• Kings of Ulster
• Provinces of Ireland
• Ulster Scots dialects
• Ulster-Scots people
• Mid Ulster English
• Ulster Irish
• Plantation of Ulster
• Plantations of Ireland
• Ulster Covenant
• Culture of Ulster
• Ulster GAA
• Ulster Rugby
• Red Hand of Ulster

External links[link]

• BBC Nations History of Ireland
• Inconvenient Peripheries: Ethnic Identity and the United Kingdom EstatePDF (96.8 KiB) The cases of “Protestant Ulster” and Cornwall, by Professor Philip Payton
• Mercator Atlas of Europe Map of Ireland ("Irlandia") circa 1564
• Placenames Database of Ireland developed by Fiontar
• Gaeltacht Comprehensive Language Study 2007
• Gaelscoil stats

Media related to Ulster at Wikimedia Commons

•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ulster". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

v t e Counties of Ireland The counties are listed per province Connacht Galway Leitrim Mayo Roscommon Sligo Munster Clare Cork Kerry Limerick Tipperary (North Tipperary · South Tipperary) Waterford Leinster Carlow Dublin (Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown · Fingal · South Dublin) Kildare Kilkenny Laois Longford Louth Meath Offaly Westmeath Wexford Wicklow Ulster Antrim† Armagh† Cavan Donegal Down† Fermanagh† Londonderry† Monaghan Tyrone† Italics denote non-administrative counties. Brackets denote non-traditional counties. †denotes non-administrative counties of Northern Ireland

Coordinates: 54°24′N 7°00′W / 54.4°N 7.0°W / 54.4; -7.0

The Reverend and Right Honourable The Lord Bannside PC
First Minister of Northern Ireland
In office 8 May 2007 – 5 June 2008
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Deputy	Martin McGuinness
Preceded by	David Trimble
Succeeded by	Peter Robinson
Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
In office 30 September 1971 – 31 May 2008
Preceded by	Office Created
Succeeded by	Peter Robinson
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for North Antrim
In office 25 June 1998 – 25 March 2011
Preceded by	Office Created
Succeeded by	Paul Frew
Member of the European Parliament for Northern Ireland
In office 7 June 1979 – 10 June 2004
Preceded by	Office Created
Succeeded by	Jim Allister
Member of Parliament for North Antrim
In office 18 June 1970 – 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Henry Maitland Clark
Succeeded by	Ian Paisley, Jr.
Personal details
Born	(1926-04-06) 6 April 1926 (age 86) Armagh, Northern Ireland
Nationality	British
Political party	Democratic Unionist Party
Spouse(s)	Eileen Cassells
Children	Rhonda Sharon Cherith Kyle Ian
Residence	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Occupation	Minister Evangelist Politician Political activist
Religion	Free Presbyterian
Website	Official website

Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC (born 6 April 1926) is a politician and former church minister from Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007. Paisley retired from religious ministry on 27 January 2012.

In addition to co-founding the DUP and leading it from 1971 to 2008, he is a founding member and was Moderator for 57 years of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster. In 2005, Paisley's political party became the largest unionist party in Northern Ireland, displacing his long-term rivals, the Ulster Unionists (UUP), who had dominated unionist politics in Northern Ireland since before the partition of Ireland.

On 4 March 2008 Paisley announced that he would step down as First Minister and leader of the DUP after the US-Northern Ireland Investment Conference in May 2008.^[1] Peter Robinson took over as DUP leader on 31 May 2008, and replaced Paisley as First Minister on 5 June 2008.^[2] Paisley was made a life peer in the Dissolution Honours List of Prime Minister Gordon Brown,^[3] ennobled on 18 June 2010 as Baron Bannside, of North Antrim in the County of Antrim.^[4]

Personal life[link]

Ian Richard Kyle Paisley was born in Armagh, County Armagh and brought up in the town of Ballymena, County Antrim, where his father James Kyle Paisley was an Independent Baptist pastor. The senior Paisley had served in the Ulster Volunteers under Edward Carson.^[5]

He married Eileen Cassells on 13 October 1956.^[6] They have five children, three daughters Sharon, Rhonda and Cherith and twin sons, Kyle and Ian. Three of their children have followed their father into politics or religion: Kyle is a Free Presbyterian minister; Ian is a DUP MP; and Rhonda, a retired DUP councillor.^[7] He has a brother, Harold, who is also an evangelical fundamentalist.^[8]

Following rumours and a marked change in his appearance, it was confirmed in July 2004 that Paisley had been undergoing tests for an undisclosed illness and in 2005 Ian Paisley, Jr. confirmed that his father had been gravely ill. Paisley himself later admitted that he had "walked in death's shadow."^[9]

Religious career[link]

During his time working on the farm, the young Paisley felt that he received a vocation to enter the Christian ministry.^{[citation needed]} He undertook theological training at the Barry School of Evangelism (now called the Evangelical Theological College of Wales), and later, for a year, at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Hall in Belfast.^{[citation needed]}

Free Presbyterian Church[link]

In 1951, a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland was forbidden by denominational authorities to hold a meeting in their own church hall at which Paisley was to be the speaker. In response, the leaders of that congregation left the PCI and began a new denomination, the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster.^[10] Paisley soon became the moderator of this denomination^[11] and was re-elected every year, except one, for 57 years.^[12]

The Free Presbyterian Church has a fundamentalist orientation, requiring strict separation from "any church which has departed from the fundamental doctrines of the Word of God."^[10] As of the 1991 census, the denomination included about 12,000 people, less than 1% of the Northern Ireland population.

Writings[link]

Paisley set up his own newspaper in February 1966, the Protestant Telegraph, as a mechanism for further spreading his message.^[13] He has authored numerous books and pamphlets on religious and political subjects including a commentary on the Epistle to the Romans.^[14]

Campaign against homosexuality[link]

He has preached against homosexuality^[15] and supports laws criminalising its practice. Intertwining his religious and political views, "Save Ulster from Sodomy" was a campaign launched by Paisley in 1977, in opposition to the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform (Northern Ireland), established in 1974.^[16] Paisley's campaign sought to prevent the extension to Northern Ireland of the Sexual Offences Act 1967, which had decriminalised homosexual acts between males over 21 years of age in England and Wales. The campaign failed when legislation was passed in 1982 as a result of the previous year's ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Dudgeon v United Kingdom.^[17]

Religious views[link]

Paisley promotes a form of Biblical literalism and Anti-Catholicism, which he describes as "Bible Protestantism". The website of Paisley's public relations arm, the European Institute of Protestant Studies, describes the institute's purpose as to "expound the Bible, expose the Papacy, and to promote, defend and maintain Bible Protestantism in Europe and further afield."^[18] Paisley's website describes a number of doctrinal areas in which he believes that the "Roman church" (which he termed Popery) has deviated from the Bible and thus from true Christianity.

In 1988, when Pope John Paul II delivered a speech to the European Parliament, Paisley shouted "I denounce you as the Antichrist!" and held up a red poster reading "Pope John Paul II ANTICHRIST" in black letters. John Paul continued with his address after Paisley was ejected from the hemicycle by fellow MEPs.^{[19][20][21][22]} Some reports claimed that other MEPs, including Otto von Habsburg, assisted in expelling him from the chamber,^[23] and that Paisley was booed and struck by other MEPs, who also hurled objects at him, leading to his hospitalisation.^[24][25]

Paisley continued to denounce the Catholic Church and the Pope after the incident. In a television interview for The Unquiet Man, a 2001 documentary on Paisley's life, he expressed his pride at being "the only person to have the courage to denounce the Pope".^{[citation needed]} After the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005, Paisley expressed sympathy for Catholics stating "We can understand how Roman Catholics feel at the death of the Pope and we would want in no way to interfere with their expression of sorrow and grief at this time."^[26] This was in contrast to Paisley's reaction to the death of Pope John XXIII in June 1963, when Paisley organised protests against the lowering of flags in public buildings after the death of the Pope.^[27]

He has claimed in an article that the seat no. 666 in the European Parliament is reserved for the Antichrist.^[28]

He and his organisation have publicly spoken out against what he views to be blasphemy in popular culture, including criticism of the stage productions Jesus Christ Superstar and Jerry Springer: The Opera, as well as being strongly pro-life.^{[citation needed]}

Although at political odds with the Republic of Ireland, he has some religious followers in two counties (County Donegal and County Monaghan).^[29] It was specifically in his religious capacity that he first agreed to meet the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern.^{[citation needed]} Paisley revised this stance in September 2004, when he agreed to meet Ahern in his political capacity as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party.^{[citation needed]} Known for a sense of humour, at an early meeting with Ahern at the Irish embassy in London, Paisley requested breakfast and asked for boiled eggs; when Ahern asked him why he had wanted boiled eggs, Paisley quipped "it would be hard for you to poison them".^[30]

Political career[link]

Early activism and paramilitary involvement[link]

Paisley's first political involvement came at the 1950 UK general election, when he campaigned on behalf of the successful Ulster Unionist Party candidate in Belfast West, the Church of Ireland minister James Godfrey MacManaway.^[31] Inspired by MacManaway's blend of unionism and Protestantism, Paisley joined independent Unionist MP Norman Porter's National Union of Protestants, but left after Porter refused to join the Free Presbyterians.^[32]

Paisley was among those invited in 1956 to a special meeting at the Ulster Unionist Party's offices in Glengall Street, Belfast.^{[citation needed]} The meeting's declared purpose was to organise the defence of Protestant areas against anticipated Irish Republican Army (IRA) activity, in the manner of the old Ulster Protestant Association after the partition of Ireland in the early 1920s.^{[citation needed][33]} The new body decided to call itself Ulster Protestant Action (UPA), and the first year of its existence was taken up with the discussion of vigilante patrols, street barricades, and drawing up lists of IRA suspects in both Belfast and in rural areas.^[34][35] The UPA was to later become the Protestant Unionist Party in 1966.^[36] Factory and workplace branches were formed under the UPA, including one by Paisley in Belfast's Ravenhill area under his direct control.^{[citation needed]} The concern of the UPA increasingly came to focus on the defence of 'Bible Protestantism' and Protestant interests where jobs and housing were concerned.^{[citation needed]} As Paisley came to dominate Ulster Protestant Action, he received his first convictions for public order offences. In June 1959, a major riot occurred on the Shankill Road in Belfast following a rally at which he had spoken.^[37]

Paisley, along with Noel Docherty established the Ulster Constitution Defence Committee, which in turn established the paramilitary organisation Ulster Protestant Volunteers on 17 April 1966 at a parade in the Shankill area of Belfast^[38] Paisley went on to establish another paramilitary group, Third Force, on 1 April 1981.^[39][40][41] Another paramilitary group, Ulster Resistance, was established by Paisley in 1986.^[42][43]

In 1964, his demand that the Royal Ulster Constabulary remove an Irish tricolour from Sinn Féin's Belfast offices led to two days of rioting, after this was followed through (see Flags and Emblems Act – the public display of any symbol, with the exception of the Union flag, that could cause a breach of the peace was illegal until Westminster repealed the Act in 1987).^[44] Paisley's approach led him in turn to oppose O'Neill's successors as Prime Minister, Major James Chichester-Clark (later Lord Moyola) and Brian Faulkner.^[45]

In 1969, he was jailed along with Ronald Bunting for organising an illegal counter-demonstration against a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march in Armagh. He was released during a general amnesty for people convicted of political offences.^[46]

Electoral success and the DUP foundation[link]

Paisley easily retained his seat in every European election until he stood down in 2004, receiving the highest popular vote of any British MEP (although as Northern Ireland uses a different electoral system to Great Britain for European elections, the figures are not strictly comparable).^[47]

1973 Sunningdale agreement: opposed[link]

In April 1977, Paisley declared he would retire from politics if a forthcoming United Unionist Action Council general strike was unsuccessful. The strike was seen as a failure by most political and media commentators, however Paisley declared it to be a success and continued his career.^[48] In December 1981, the United States State Department revoked his visa, at the insistence of Irish American supporters of Sinn Féin, whose members had been excluded due to the party's links to the PIRA, citing his "divisive rhetoric".^[49]

1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement: 'Ulster says no'[link]

A rally of protesters, estimated between 100,000 and 200,000 people, met in front of Belfast City Hall after a campaign dubbed after its slogan "Ulster Says No" to protest the Anglo-Irish Agreement, which gave the Republic of Ireland a consultive role in the affairs of Northern Ireland.^[50] The rally, was addressed by Paisley and then UUP leader James Molyneaux. In his address, Paisley said:

Where do the terrorists operate from? From the Irish Republic! Where do the terrorists return to for sanctuary? To the Irish Republic! And yet Mrs. Thatcher tells us that the Republic must have some say in our Province. We say never, never, never, never!

The demonstration passed off peacefully. On 9 December 1986, Paisley was once again ejected from the European Parliament for continually interrupting a speech by Thatcher.^[51]

1995: Drumcree standoff[link]

Paisley is a former member of the Orange Institution.^[52] He addresses the annual gathering of the Independent Orange Order every Twelfth of July.^{[citation needed]}

In 1995, he played a part in the Drumcree conflict over marching in Portadown, County Armagh between the Orange Order and local residents of the Garvaghy Road. The march passed off after the decision was made by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) to allow it and Paisley ended the march hand in hand with David Trimble who appeared to perform a "Victory Jig". This "Victory Jig" was seen by some as an act of triumphalism.^[53]

Opposition to the 1998 Belfast Agreement[link]

Paisley's DUP was initially involved in the negotiations under former United States Senator George J. Mitchell that led to the Belfast Agreement of 1998. The party withdrew in protest when Sinn Féin was allowed to participate after its ceasefire.^[54] Paisley and his party opposed the Agreement in the referendum that followed its signing, which saw it approved by over 70% of the voters in Northern Ireland and by over 90% of voters in the Republic of Ireland.^[55]

Although Paisley often stresses his loyalty to the Crown, he accused Queen Elizabeth of being Tony Blair's "parrot" when she voiced approval of the Agreement.^[56]

As part of the deal, the Republic amended, but did not eliminate, the controversial Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland, which had originally claimed its government's de jure right to govern the whole island of Ireland, including Northern Ireland.^{[citation needed]}

The DUP fought the resulting election to the Northern Ireland Assembly, to which Paisley was elected, while keeping his seats in the Westminster and European parliaments. The DUP took two seats in the multi-party power-sharing executive (Paisley, like the leaders of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and Sinn Féin chose not to become a minister) but those DUP members serving as ministers (Peter Robinson and Nigel Dodds) refused to attend meetings of the Executive Committee (cabinet) in protest at Sinn Féin's participation.^[57]

Having spent most of his career, as he himself jokingly admitted once, saying 'No', Paisley assumed the chairmanship of the Agriculture committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly created by the Belfast Agreement, where he was praised as an effective, coordinating chairman.^{[citation needed]} The Minister for Agriculture, Nationalist SDLP's Bríd Rodgers, remarked that she and Paisley had a "workmanlike" relationship.^[58]

2000s: compromise and power[link]

Ian Paisley, George W. Bush and Martin McGuinness in December 2007.

In the October 2006 St Andrews Agreement, Paisley and the DUP agreed to new elections, and support for a new executive including Sinn Féin subject to Sinn Féin acceptance of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.^[59] This reversed decades of Paisley opposition to Sinn Féin such as his comments on 12 July 2006 in Portrush, following Orange Order parades when he said, "[Sinn Fein] are not fit to be in partnership with decent people. They are not fit to be in the government of Northern Ireland and it will be over our dead bodies if they ever get there."^[60]

Sinn Féin did endorse the PSNI, and in the subsequent election Paisley and the DUP received an increased share of the vote and increased their assembly seats from 30 to 36.^[61] On Monday 26 March 2007, the date of the British Government deadline for devolution or dissolution, Paisley led a DUP delegation to a meeting with a Sinn Féin delegation led by Gerry Adams, which agreed on a DUP proposal that the executive would be established on 8 May.^[62]

On 8 May 2007 power was devolved, the Assembly met, and Paisley was elected as First Minister of Northern Ireland with Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness as the deputy First Minister. Speaking at Stormont to an invited international audience he said, "Today at long last we are starting upon the road — I emphasise starting — which I believe will take us to lasting peace in our province."^[63] Paisley and McGuinness subsequently established a good working relationship and were dubbed by the Northern Irish media as the "Chuckle Brothers".^[64]

Wikinews has related news: Northern Ireland's Ian Paisley to resign and retire

At the age of 78, he retired from his European Parliament seat at the 2004 elections and was succeeded by Jim Allister.^[65]

He again retained his North Antrim seat in the 2005 UK general election. In 2005, Paisley was made a Privy Counsellor, an appointment traditionally bestowed upon leaders of political parties in the British Parliament.^[66] In 2007, aged 81, he became First Minister of Northern Ireland."^[63]

Upon the death of Piara Khabra in June 2007, Paisley became the oldest sitting British MP.^{[citation needed]} In September 2007, he confirmed that he would contest North Antrim at the 2010 general election as well as serving the full four years as first minister stating "I might as well make hay while the sun shines."^[67]

Following his January 2008 retirement as a religious leader and pressure from party insiders, on 4 March 2008, Paisley announced that he would stand down as DUP leader and First Minister of Northern Ireland in May 2008.^[1] On 17 April, Peter Robinson was elected unopposed as leader of the DUP^[68] and succeeded Paisley as First Minister at a special sitting of the assembly on 5 June 2008.^[69]

In 2007, Paisley was named as "Opposition Parliamentarian of the Year" in the House Magazine Parliamentary Awards^[70] and by the Spectator Magazine as "Marathon Man of the Year."^[71]

On 2 March 2010, it was announced that Ian Paisley would step down as a Member of Parliament in the next general election; held on 6 May.^[72] His son Ian Paisley, Jr. was elected to succeed him in the seat at the general election on 6 May 2010.^[73]

In November 2011, Ian Paisley announced his retirement from the pastorate at his congregation, which he had led for over 60 years.^[74] He delivered his final sermon to a packed attendance at the Martyrs' Memorial Hall on 18 December 2011.^[75]

Paisley retired from his religious ministry at the age of 85, on 27 January 2012.^[76][77]

On 6 February 2012, Reverend Paisley was admitted to Ulster Hospital in Dundonald. According to the BBC, this may be attributable to cardiovascular problems. In February 2011, he had a pacemaker fitted due to cardiac arrhythmia, during his time in the House of Lords.^[78]

Peerage[link]

On 18 June 2010, Paisley was created a life peer as Baron Bannside, of North Antrim in the County of Antrim, and he was introduced in the House of Lords on 5 July 2010.^[79]

Relationship with the nationalist SDLP[link]

From the 1960s, one of his main rivals was civil rights leader and co-founder of the nationalist SDLP, John Hume.^{[citation needed]} British Government papers released in 2002, show that in 1971 Paisley attempted to reach a compromise with the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).^[80] The attempt was made via then British Cabinet Secretary, Sir Burke Trend. The papers show that Paisley had indicated he could "reach an accommodation with leaders of the Catholic minority, which would provide the basis of a new government in Stormont." It appears that the move was rejected once it became clear to the SDLP that the deal would favour the unionist majority. Speaking about the deal in 2002 Paisley said:

Though their parties are often at loggerheads, Hume and Paisley worked jointly on behalf of Northern Ireland in the European Parliament and on occasion worked jointly in the British House of Commons.^{[citation needed]} Hume tells the story of the occasion when he said to Ian Paisley, "Ian, if the word 'no' were to be removed from the English language, you'd be speechless, wouldn't you!" Paisley replied, "No, I wouldn't!"^[81]

See also[link]

• List of Northern Ireland members of the Privy Council

References[link]