2nd Year/notes on the plantations

What happened to the Irish?

Many Irish people were driven from their lands. They retreated into the hills, bogs and forests where they struggled to survive. Some became outlaws, called Tories or Woodkerne. They attacked the planters who occupied their old land. 

Results of the Ulster Plantation

The best planned and most successful of all the plantations. Smaller estates proved easier to manage. By 1640, almost 80,000 planters had been attracted by Ulster’s numerous estates.

English farming methods were introduced. Forests were cleared for crop growing.  A new crop called flax was introduced and this provided raw material for a new linen making industry. They then shipped the linen and farm produce back to England. This made Ulster prosperous.

Plantation town were built as centres of trade and defence and of English law and culture. Examples: Donegal, Derry, Enniskillen and Coleraine. They all had the same lay out.

 

LONG TERM RESULTS

Politics – Divisions existed between the dispossessed Irish and the new planters in some parts. Descendants of the original Irish tend to be republicans and the descendants of the planters are mostly loyalists who now want to remain part of Britain. Six counties  now make up Northern Ireland which remains part of the UK.

Religion – the dispossessed Irish were Catholics and many of the planters were Presbyterians or Anglican. Catholic and Protestant communities remained separate and they grew suspicious of each other over the centuries. This sectarian divide was made stronger because most Catholics saw themselves as being Irish and most Protestants saw themselves as being English

Culture – Generally speaking Irish language, law and customs were replaced with those of Britain. Cultural differences remain today. Nationalists are more likely to play G.A.A, learn the Irish language and play Irish music.