Ulster - Definition


Ulster - Definition

For other places and things named Ulster, see Ulster (disambiguation).

Ulster

Statistics
Area:	24,481 km�
Population:	1,931,981 (estimate)
Map

Ulster (Irish: Uladh) is a province of Ireland. It has a population of just under 2 million people and an area of 24,481 square kilometres (8,952 square miles). Its capital and biggest city is Belfast (B�al Feirste). Since 1922, six of its nine counties, Antrim (Aontroim), Armagh (Ard Mhacha), Down (An D�n), Fermanagh (Fear Manach), Londonderry (Doire) and Tyrone (T�r Eoghain), are known collectively as Northern Ireland, and are part of the United Kingdom. The nationalist population on both sides of the border frequently refer to these six counties as the Six Counties (Na S� Condaetha) or the "North of Ireland" while the unionist population frequently refer to these six counties as "Ulster" or "the Province", and to the whole province as "historical Ulster". The three Ulster counties of Cavan (An Cabh�n), Donegal (D�n na nGall/T�r Chonaill) and Monaghan (Muineach�n) are part of the Republic of Ireland. About half of Ulster's population live in Antrim and Down.

English is spoken by virtually everyone in Ulster, apart from some immigrants and a handful of monoglots in the Donegal Gaeltacht. Irish is probably the second most widely-spoken language, though this is hard to verify as many people claim fluency while having only a working knowledge of the language. Cantonese is the third most common, mainly in Belfast's large Chinese community.

The biggest lake in Ireland (or Britain), Lough Neagh, is in eastern Ulster. Its highest point is Slieve Donard, in Down (848 metres). The most northerly point of Ireland, Malin Head, is in Donegal. The second highest sea cliffs in Europe, at Slieve League, are also in this county. The biggest river in Ireland, the Shannon, rises in Cavan. Volcanic activity in eastern Ulster led to the formation of the Antrim Plateau and the Giant's Causeway, one of Ireland's three UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The geographical centre of Ulster is near the village of Pomeroy, in Tyrone.

In the 1600s Ulster functioned as the last redoubt of the traditional Gaelic way of life, and following the defeat of the Irish forces at the battles of Kinsale (1601), Mountjoy and Dunboy Castle, Elizabeth I succeeded in subjugating Ulster and all of Ireland. The Gaelic kings of Ulster, the O'Neills, decamped en masse in 1607 to Catholic Europe, finding their power under English suzerainty limited. This allowed the Crown to settle Ulster with more loyal English and Scottish planters, which began in earnest in 1610. What became known as the Plantation of Ulster continued well into the 18th century, interrupted only by the Catholic uprising of 1641. Thousands of Protestants were slaughtered by dispossessed Catholics, an event which remains strong in Ulster Protestant folk memory. In 1922 most of Ulster became part of Northern Ireland and remained in the United Kingdom, whilst the rest became part of the Irish Free State.

While the Ulster Catholics of Northern Ireland have long opposed its existence, the Ulster Protestants of the three Free State counties have assimilated well, although some sectarian tension remains. Seven of Northern Ireland's eighteen MPs are Catholic, while one of Ulster's ten TDs is Protestant.

The flag of Ulster, shown to the right, is the basis for a flag of Northern Ireland that was official until 1973.

See also