Ulster Plantation trail creates a stir

Interest in the Hamilton and Montgomery ‘Dawn of the Ulster-Scots’ project has been phenomenal, Ulster-Scots Agency chairman Mark Thompson  confirms.

Mark, who has played a major part in the initiative, said inquiries about the marking of the 400th anniversary of the James Hamilton and Hugh Montgomery settlements in Ulster have been received from people from across the world.

“We are getting a flood of inquiries about the project from folk in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and, of course, from  Scotland and England,” said Mark. “We printed an initial 10,000 leaflets on the settlement and these have all gone.  Indeed, Ards Borough Council, at its tourist information centres, has had to continually re-stock the leaflets, which are also available at offices of the other 25 district councils across the Province.
“A further 10,000 leaflets, which contains a wall chart on the progress of the Plantation movement to Ulster, have been made available for  distribution over the summer,” added Mark.

In 1606, James Hamilton and Hugh Montgomery, two Ayrshire lairds started a large-scale migration from the Lowlands of Scotland to Co Antrim  and Co Down, thus initiating the distinct Scottish Presbyterian influence in Ulster and a diaspora which achieved much, not just on these shores,  but particularly in North America.
On May 25, thousands of people attended a Hamilton and Montgomery cultural and historical festival in Donaghadee and another major event is  planned for the Montgomery estate in Greyabbey on Saturday July 29.

A group of Americans, led by Texan Glen Pratt, of the Ulster-Scots Society of America, is coming to Northern Ireland in late July and early August, specifically to take in the Hamilton and Montgomery trail.
Other groups from the United States have expressed a big interest and both the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and Tourism Ireland are  involved  in the projection of the Hamilton and Montgomery commemoration project.