The 1801 Act of Union answered a lot of grieveneces of the Scots of Ulster, and the decades rise in the extremeist element of the Catholic Church, and its hold on the south with government approval after Emancipation gave ripe feeding ground to the Orange Order to find recruits among the Ulster Scots.

A lot of the more radical members emigrated both to America and Australia, though accurate numbers are hard to come by.

The remnant, in the face of rampant uncompromising Catholocism, saw the Union as a safeguard of their faith, - which we must remember was the trigger behind their opposition to the state in 1798 - and to this day they are of a Unionist persuasion predominantly, with Ballymoney and surrounding towns being DUP strongholds.

After the emaciptaion of their faith, the Orange Order accepted them into their ranks as well as any other Protestants who accepted the treaty.

It is unfortunate that the bigirty of the last century by and large spoils the cultural relationships between the two populations on our island. We cannot change the past... however we can change the present...