Ulster has a proud record in the 1798 rebellion, providing the leadership and some of the nobellest heos and villians of the rebellion, from well known characters such as Henry Joy Mc Cracken, to lesser known ones till lately as Betsy Gray.

The Scots of Ulster of the day were concentrated to the east coast, in Antrim and Down, and from their base there they suffered the penal laws introduced by Queen Anne, in common with their Catholic neighbours. Reasoning for this targetting was their refusal to conform to the Established Church, them being predominatly of Presbyterian faith.

They were a frugal people, who believed in work, and church and family, among whom their main vice, as it was in most of Ireland, was a fondness for drink, though it was frowned on by the communities as a whole.

They were quite determined people, and of independent thought, and were knowledgable of and influenced by the French and American revolutions, and saught to create and Ireland of equals, where all could practice their faith freely, as Irishmen, without compomising their ethnic culture as Anglo, Scot or Gael.

The Background

The Scots of Ulster arrived after the First Plantation of Ulster, when a minor O'Neill traded lands held in East Ulster for his freedom from Carrickfergus Gaol, where he was held for rioting. The land was settled by two adventurers from Kilmarnock, andinsomuch is was not a hostile plantation such as the Second Plantation of Ulster, commonly known as the Plantation of Ulster.

Due to the success of this intial scheme, King James I (after whom the KJV Bible is named) was approached about a wider scheme, which laid the foundations for the conflict there since.

There was previos settlement in Cromwellian times, also of Scots origion, and also a large natural movement in both directions over the short chanell that seperated the islands.

The Cromwellian Aftermath

After the Restoration there was a lot of Royalist bad feeling towards the Republicans of Cromwells era, and the Established Church was enforced through the three Kingdoms, to the resistance of the Covenantors and the Ulster Scots, leading to the period known as the "Killing Times".

The rise of the Penal Laws placed Presbyterians in the same bracket as Catholics, restricting movement, ownership and trade, to great hardship of the people. Also, at this time, rents were rising, and tenancies were being renewed, at more epensive terms than the origional leases.

This cominations of agrarian and social problems set the scene for Rebellion, which found its vent through the United Irishman movement in 1798.

The United Irishmen

Origionally a constituinal orginisation, they went radical in 1795 due to the oppression of the then Governement. The execution of William Orr, a brother of the famous poet James Orr heightened tensions, which soon spilled to open conflict.

For Faith, Fatherland and Freedom

It is to be noted that many Anglicans were also active in the ranks of the rebels.

After the War

After the war most combatents emigrated to America, and the remainder found the terms of the Act of Union agreeable, eith by reason, or as part of a desire to assimilate and succeed, if not survive. The Act of Union gave them the freedom of faith denied to Catholics, achieved years later by Daniel O' Connell, some would say at the expense of Catholic - Protestant relations.

The rise in radical Catholocism gave an open road for the Orange Order to recruit among the Ulster Scots, as they too allowed in all Protestant faiths that accepted the Trinity, as they do to this day. Always led y their clergy, they have given us some of the carachters of the recent conflict, from Rev Paisley to Rev William Mc Crea.