Ulster and Related Topics

Northern Ireland

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Part of the United Kingdom that is variously described as a country, province, territory or region.

Signing of the Ulster Covenant in 1912 in opposition to Home Rule

Result of the 1918 general election in Ireland

Crowds in Belfast for the state opening of the Northern Ireland Parliament on 22 June 1921

The Coat of arms of Northern Ireland used between 1924 and 1973

James Craig (centre) with members of the first government of Northern Ireland

Opening of the Northern Ireland parliament buildings (Stormont) in 1932

Responsibility for Troubles-related deaths between 1969 and 2001

First Minister Ian Paisley (DUP) centre, and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness (Sinn Féin) left, and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond right in 2008

A flowchart illustrating all the political parties that have existed throughout the history of Northern Ireland and leading up to its formation (covering 1889 to 2020).

Parliament Buildings at Stormont, Belfast, seat of the assembly

ESA Sentinel-2 image of Northern Ireland

Köppen climate types of Northern Ireland

Goliath crane of Harland & Wolff in Belfast

2011 census: differences in proportions of those who are, or were brought up, either Catholic or Protestant/Other Christians

Map of predominant national identity in the 2011 census

Approximate boundaries of the current and historical English/Scots dialects in Ulster. South to north, the colour bands represent Hiberno-English, South-Ulster English, Mid-Ulster English and the three traditional Ulster Scots areas. The Irish-speaking Gaeltacht is not shown.

Percentage of people aged 3+ claiming to have some ability in Irish in the 2011 census

Percentage of people aged 3+ claiming to have some ability in Ulster Scots in the 2011 census

People carrying the Irish flag, overlooking those with the unionist Ulster Banner

George Best, Northern Irish international footballer and 1968 Ballon d'Or

Prominent Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy

Broadcasting House, Belfast, home of BBC Northern Ireland

Today, the former generally see themselves as British and the latter generally see themselves as Irish, while a Northern Irish or Ulster identity is claimed by a large minority from all backgrounds.

The counties of Ulster (modern boundaries) that were colonised during the plantations. This map is a simplified one, as the amount of land actually colonised did not cover the entire shaded area.

The Plantation of Ulster (Ulster-Scots: Plantin o Ulstèr) was the organised colonisation (plantation) of Ulster – a province of Ireland – by people from Great Britain during the reign of King James I.

Partition of Ireland

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The process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland.

Result in Ireland of the December 1910 United Kingdom general election showing a large majority for the Irish Parliamentary Party.

Ulster Volunteers marching in Belfast, 1914

Result of the 1918 general election in Ireland showing the dramatic swing in support for Sinn Féin

Catholic-owned businesses destroyed by loyalists in Lisburn, August 1920

Members of the Irish negotiation committee returning to Ireland in December 1921

North East Boundary Bureau recommendations May 1923

The Boundary Commission's proposed changes to the border

A republican anti-partition march in London, 1980s

The territory that became Northern Ireland, within the Irish province of Ulster, had a Protestant and Unionist majority who wanted to maintain ties to Britain.

Seán Hogan's flying column of the IRA's 3rd Tipperary Brigade during the war

Irish War of Independence

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Guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-military Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and its paramilitary forces the Auxiliaries and Ulster Special Constabulary (USC).

Result of the 1918 UK general election in Ireland

RIC and British Army personnel near Limerick, c.1920

Police wanted poster for Dan Breen, one of those involved in the Soloheadbeg Ambush in 1919.

Wall plaque in Great Denmark Street, Dublin where the Dublin IRA Active Service Unit was founded.

A group of "Black and Tans" and Auxiliaries in Dublin, April 1921

British soldiers and relatives of the victims outside Jervis Street Hospital during the military enquiry into the Bloody Sunday shootings at Croke Park

Aftermath of the burning of Cork by British forces

A crowd gathers at the Mansion House in Dublin in the days before the truce

The funeral of Michael Collins
St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Dublin, August 1922

The Lord Lieutenant inspecting troops outside Belfast City Hall on the day Northern Ireland's parliament first met.

A mural in Belfast depicting revenge killings by police in Belfast.

Irish republican internees at Ballykinlar Internment Camp 1920

The symbol of the Republic:
The Irish tricolour which dated back to the Young Ireland rebellion of 1848.

A symbol of British rule:
The standard of the Lord Lieutenant, using the union flag created under the Act of Union 1800.

Monument to IRA fighters in Phibsborough, Dublin

Soldiers of a British cavalry regiment leaving Dublin in 1922

Constance Markievicz was a member of the Irish Citizen Army and fought in the Easter Rising. In 1919 she was appointed Minister for Labour in the Government of the Irish Republic

Conflict deaths in Belfast 1920–1922.
50–100 deaths per km2
100–150 deaths per km2
over 150 deaths per km2

The conflict in north-east Ulster had a sectarian aspect (see Belfast Pogrom of 1920 and Bloody Sunday (1921)).

Hazards of separation from Great Britain. Unionist postcard (1912)

Unionism in Ireland

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Political tradition on the island of Ireland that favours political union with Great Britain and professes loyalty to the British Crown and constitution.

Detail of the Battle of Ballynahinch 1798 by Thomas Robinson. Government Yeomanry prepare to hang United Irish insurgent Hugh McCulloch, a grocer.

1899 penny print of Henry Cooke's 1841 speech in "reply to Daniel O'Connell"

William Gladstone writing legislation under pressure from the Land League. Caricature 1881.

God Save the Queen, Erin Go Bragh, Ulster Unionist Convention, Belfast, 1892

Flag of the Congested Districts Board for Ireland, 1893–1907

Signing the Ulster Covenant Declaration, "Ulster Day” 1912

An Orange Order banner showing Carson the signing of the Ulster Covenant 1912

The 1918 general election result in Ireland. Sinn Féin sweeps the south and west

The Coat of Arms of the Government of Northern Ireland used between 1924 and 1973

The statue of Lord Edward Carson in front of Parliament Buildings, Stormont

Mural for the Red Hand Commando (UVF) which, uniquely, had an Irish-language motto, Lamh Dearg Abu (Victory to the Red Hand)

Campaign against the Anglo-Irish Agreement

Detail from 2015 Sinn Féin election flyer, North Belfast

The cross of St. Patrick superimposed on the Scottish Saltire with a six-county star, Red Hand of Ulster and no crown: the "Ulster national flag" variously employed by Loyalist groups to represent an independent, or distinctly Ulster-Scot, Northern-Ireland identity.

In Ulster where, because of their greater numbers, Protestants were less fearful of sharing political rights with Catholics, combinations of Presbyterian tradesmen, merchants, and tenant farmers protested against an unrepresentative parliament and against an executive in Dublin Castle still appointed, through the office of the Lord Lieutenant, by English ministers.

County Donegal

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Neolithic portal tomb at Kilclooney More

Donegal Castle, former seat of the O'Donnell dynasty

The Inishowen Peninsula as seen from the International Space Station

Aurora borealis (na Saighneáin) over Malin Head

Horse riding on Tramore Beach in Downings

Slieve League cliffs, the second tallest in Ireland

Road signs in Irish in the Gweedore Gaeltacht

Second referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon

Donegal Airport, which is located in The Rosses region

The Iron Age fortress Grianan of Aileach.

Errigal towers over Gweedore and Cloughaneely. The former Church of Ireland church (now ruined) at Dunlewey can be seen in the foreground. The church was built in the early 1850s.

Cut turf between Carndonagh and Redcastle.

Glenveagh National Park, the second largest in Ireland

Fintown Railway on the track of County Donegal Railways Joint Committee next to Lough Finn near Fintown railway station.

Narin and Portnoo Golf club, one of the many links courses in the county

Bundoran is regarded as one of the best surfing spots in Ireland and Europe.

County Donegal (Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region.

Republic of Ireland

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Country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland.

The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell (1846–1891).

In 1922 a new parliament called the Oireachtas was established, of which Dáil Éireann became the lower house.

In 1973 Ireland joined the European Economic Community along with the United Kingdom and Denmark. The country signed the Lisbon Treaty in 2007.

The Cliffs of Moher on the Atlantic coast

MacGillycuddy's Reeks, mountain range in County Kerry includes the highest peaks in Ireland.

The Four Courts, completed in 1802, is the principal building for civil courts.

The Criminal Courts of Justice is the principal building for criminal courts.

Soldiers of the Irish Army on Easter Rising centenary parade

Ireland is part of the EU (dark blue & light blue) and Eurozone (dark blue).

A proportional representation of Ireland exports, 2019

The International Financial Services Centre in Dublin

InterCity Mark IV train at Heuston station

Percentage of population speaking Irish daily (outside the education system) in the 2011 census

RCSI Disease and Research Centre at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin

University College Cork was founded in 1845 and is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland.

The longroom at the Trinity College Library

St Mary's Pro-Cathedral is the seat of the Catholic Church in Dublin.

St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, is the national Cathedral of the Church of Ireland.

The ruins of Monasterboice in County Louth are of early Christian settlements.

The Dublin Custom House is a neoclassical building from the late 18th century.

Brick architecture of multi-storey buildings in Dame Street in Dublin

Capital Dock in Dublin is the tallest building in the Republic of Ireland.

Croke Park stadium is the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association.

The seal of the President of Ireland, incorporating a harp

Glenveagh, the second-largest national park in Ireland.

Irish Army soldiers as part of Kosovo Force, 2010.

Irish Guard of Honour 'Garda Onóra' during the state visit at Áras an Uachtaráin, Dublin

In the late 19th and early 20th-century unionism was particularly strong in parts of Ulster, where industrialisation was more common in contrast to the more agrarian rest of the island, and where the Protestant population was more prominent, with a majority in four counties.

County Down

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1885 map, with the county divided into baronies

King John's Castle on Carlingford Lough.

A steam train on the Downpatrick and County Down Railway travelling through the Ulster drumlin belt near Downpatrick.

County Down is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland.

Felim O'Neill of Kinard, leader of the Rebellion

Irish Rebellion of 1641

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Uprising by Irish Catholics in the Kingdom of Ireland, who wanted an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and to partially or fully reverse the plantations of Ireland.

Ireland in 1609, showing the major Plantations of Ireland

Etching, by Jan Luyken, depicting the execution of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford in May 1641

English atrocity propaganda of alleged rebel attacks on women and children

James Butler, Duke of Ormond, who commanded the royal army during the rebellion

The Great Seal of the Irish Catholic Confederation, with the motto "Irishmen united for God, king and country"

Led by Felim O'Neill, the rebellion began on 23 October and although they failed to seize Dublin Castle, within days the rebels occupied most of the northern province of Ulster.