 | | |  | | | |  | Migration in Northern Ireland, like the whole island itself, has been primarily in one direction - emigration.
The topic is a huge one - 70 million people on earth could claim to have Irish or Scots Irish roots, which is amazing since the current population on the island is only around 5 million. Take a tour through the articles below for a flavour of how migration has affected Ulster, with the Scots in particular, having a pivotal role in its history. |  | | | Planters, chiefs and hollowed cheese |
17th Century Scotland was no place for faint hearts - with witch-hunts, firebrand preachers and border warriors. Many sought refuge in Ireland during the official Plantation of Ulster in 1610. However populating Ulster with hand picked Scots was already second nature to a canny trio who even broke out of a dungeon to further their empire.
 | | | Irish Stew |
The Presbyterian Scots arrived in Ulster in the early 1600s and made their home on lands confiscated from the native Catholic Irish. The Scots vison of an 'Eden' in Ireland soon evaporatd when rebellion, drought and war added to this already, volatile combination of creeds. The final straw was the introduction of the Penal Laws, attacking their religious freedom - the Ulster Scots were ready for a new dream.
| | | Hillbillies in the White House |
From the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland, via a tempestuous time in Ireland, the Scots Irish took the 'New World' by storm. These frontiersmen of the Appalachian mountains and beyond, spawned a people of character and guile, who influenced almost every facet of the Unites States of America. Presidents, soldiers, statesmen Â…and Dolly Parton?
The diary of James Black With the help of the migration studies centre at the Ulster American Folk Park, at Omagh, Co. Tyrone, UK Legacies has edited the diary of a James Black, a cotton mill owner from Co.Antrim, and merchant of South Carolina.
His diary, dating from 1837, gives a very personal view of life in 19th Century America, from someone with firm roots in Ulster.
| | | Radio, pokes and marble |
The unfertile plains of southern Italy brought 19th Century immigrants to Northern Ireland. Fish suppers and ice cream became the staple diet of generations of Irish ever since. But
the immigrants also brought skilled craftsmen, who produced exquisite terrazzo and marble work in many of Belfast's buildings. Also, can you guess the persona of the famous Italian with a link to Northern Ireland who made waves in Ballycastle?
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