Great Ulster-Scots
The Ulster-Scots Agency has just commissioned a series of leaflets from local historian Gordon Lucy discussing some of the major and minor influential figures and events in history that were either uniquely Ulster-Scots, or helps explain the rationale behind Ulster-Scots thinking.
The ‘Great Ulster-Scots’ series is interesting and thought-provoking - from looking at the relevance of the great British statesmen Lord Castlereagh, to the revolutionary and forward thinking of Henry Joy McCracken or William Drennan, founder of the United Irishmen, to the impact of the Union of the Scottish and English crowns.
Further leaflets are planned in this series, but copies of these seven can be obtained by contacting the Ulster-Scots Agency on 00 44 28 90231113 or by writing to Franklin House, 10-12 Brunswick Street, Belfast, BT2 7GE.
To read more about or to download each leaflet, simply click on the title of the leaflet.
Betsy Gray Heroine of the 1798 Uprising - Myth or Fact?
The story of Betsy Gray, a young Presbyterian woman, is so entangled with rumour and tradition that within the legend it is now almost impossible to identify the few facts from the mountain of myth which surrounds her.
Lord Castlereagh
Castlereagh’s career was ‘remarkable in that he outgrew his background in Ulster politics and became an advocate of the Union between Britain and Ireland...
The 1798 Rebellion in Ulster
In Ulster the 1798 rebellion, or "Turn Oot" in Ulster Scots, occurred in the Presbyterian heartland of Antrim and Down....
Henry Joy McCracken
Henry Joy McCracken, the commander of the United Irish forces in Antrim, was the product of a union of two of the most prominent and influential Presbyterian families in Belfast.
Carson
The anti-Carson Protestant Meeting, Ballymoney, 24 October 1913: A revolt in the Ulster Scots heartland against Unionism?
Armour of Ballymoney: Presbyterian Minister, Liberal Home Ruler and Thrawn Ulster-Scot
Revd John Brown Armour was born on a farm at Lisboy, a townland near Ballymoney, in January 1841...
The Union of the Crowns 1603
Between 2 am and 3 am on 24 March 1603 Queen Elizabeth I of England turned to face the wall and passed peacefully away: in the words of her chaplain, "mildly like a lamb, easily like a ripe apple from the tree"....
Dr William Drennan
William Drennan, a Belfast Presbyterian doctor and poet of radical views, is usually credited with being the first person to call Ireland "the emerald isle".
The Laggan Army
The Laggan Army, so called because of its base in the Laggan district of north-west Ulster between Lough Foyle and Swilly, became active immediately after the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion in October 1641 to defend the settlers from attack by marauding Irish forces.
William Ferguson Massey "BIG BILL"
Prime Minster of New Zealand 1912-1925
William Ferguson Massey, Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1912 to 1925, was one of its most influential leaders.
Thomas Sinclair
Thomas Sinclair, the man pre-eminently responsible for the success of the Ulster Convention of June 1892 and the wordsmith who framed the Ulster Covenant of September 1912, is a largely forgotten figure in modern Ulster.
The Ulster Covenant - The Origins & Background
In every day speech a covenant is a bargain or an agreement. Lawyers regard a covenant as an agreement under seal.
