Ulster (; or ; Ulster Scots – Ulstèr-Scotch NI Department for Regional Development.Ulster's Hiddlin Swaatch – Culture Northern Ireland Dr Clifford SmythGuide to Monea Castle – Ulster-Scots version Department of the Environment. or Ulster) is one of the four historical provinces of Ireland, located in the northern part of the island. It is made up of nine counties, with six of these comprising Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom), while the remaining three are in the Republic of Ireland.
It is the second-largest (after Munster) and second-most populous (after Leinster) of Ireland's four traditional provinces, with Belfast being its biggest city. Unlike the other provinces, Ulster has a high percentage of Protestants, making up almost half of its population. English is the main language and Ulster English the main dialect. A minority also speak Irish, and there are (Irish-speaking regions) in County Donegal which is home to a quarter of the total Gaeltacht population of the Republic of Ireland. There are also large Irish-speaking networks in southern County Londonderry and in the Gaeltacht Quarter, Belfast. Ulster-Scots is also spoken extensively in the counties Antrim, Down, Londonderry, Tyrone and Donegal. Lough Neagh, in the east, is the largest lake in the British Isles, while Lough Erne in the west is one of its largest lake networks. The main mountain ranges are the Mournes, Sperrins, Blue Stack (Croaghgorms) and Derryveagh Mountains.
Historically, Ulster lay at the heart of the Gaelic world made up of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. According to tradition, in ancient Ireland it was one of the fifths () ruled by a , or 'king of over-kings'. It is named after the overkingdom of Ulaid, in the east of the province, which was in turn named after the Ulaid folk. The other overkingdoms in Ulster were Airgíalla and Ailech. After the Norman invasion of Ireland in the twelfth century, eastern Ulster was conquered by the Anglo-Normans and became the Earldom of Ulster. By the late fourteenth century the Earldom had collapsed and the O'Neill dynasty had come to dominate most of Ulster, claiming the title King of Ulster. Ulster became the most thoroughly Gaelic and independent of Ireland's provinces. Its rulers resisted English encroachment but were defeated in the Nine Years' War (1594–1603). King James I then colonised Ulster with Lowland Scottish and Northern English Protestant settlers from Great Britain, in the Plantation of Ulster. This led to the founding of many of Ulster's towns. The inflow of Protestant settlers and migrants also led to bouts of sectarian violence with Catholics, notably during the 1641 rebellion and the Armagh disturbances.
Along with the rest of Ireland, Ulster became part of the United Kingdom in 1801. In the early twentieth century, moves towards Irish self-rule were opposed by many Ulster Protestants, sparking the Home Rule Crisis. In the last all Ireland election (1918 Irish general election) counties Donegal and Monaghan returned large Sinn Féin (nationalist) majorities. Sinn Féin candidates ran unopposed in Cavan. Fermanagh and Tyrone had Sinn Féin/Nationalist Party (Irish Parliamentary Party) majorities. The other four Counties of Ulster had Unionist Party majorities. The home rule crisis and the subsequent Irish War of Independence led to the partition of Ireland under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. Six Ulster counties became Northern Ireland, a self-governing territory within the United Kingdom, while the rest of Ireland became the Irish Free State, now the Republic of Ireland.
The term Ulster has no official function for local government purposes in either state. However, for the purposes of ISO 3166-2:IE, Ulster is used to refer to the three counties of Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan only, which are given country sub-division code "IE-U". The name is also used by various organisations such as cultural and sporting bodies.
Terminology Ulster's name ultimately derives from the , a group of tribes that once dwelt in this part of Ireland. The Norsemen knew the province as , the or land (a word borrowed from Irish) of the ; this was then taken into English as Ullister or Ulvester, and later contracted to Ulster. Another, less probable explanation is that the suffix -ster represents the Old Norse element ("place"), found in names like Lybster and Scrabster in Scotland.
Ulster is still known as in Irish, meaning the province (literally "fifth") of the . has historically been anglicised as Ulagh or Ullagh and Latinised as or . The latter two have yielded the terms Ulidian and Ultonian. The Irish word for someone or something from Ulster is , and this can be found in the surnames MacNulty, MacAnulty, and Nulty, which all derive from , meaning "son of the Ulsterman".
Northern Ireland is often referred to as Ulster, despite including only six of Ulster's nine counties. This usage is most common among people in Northern Ireland who are unionist, although it is also used by the media throughout the United Kingdom. Some Irish nationalists object to the use of Ulster in this context.
Geography and political sub-divisions
Ulster has a population of just over two million people and an area of . About 62% of the area of Ulster is in the UK while the remaining 38% is in the Republic of Ireland. Ulster's biggest city, Belfast, has an urban population of over half a million inhabitants, making it the second-largest city on the island of Ireland and the 10th largest urban area in the UK. Six of Ulster's nine counties, Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone, including the former parliamentary boroughs of Belfast and Londonderry, form Northern Ireland which remained part of the United Kingdom after the partition of Ireland in 1921. Three Ulster counties – Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan – form part of the Republic of Ireland. About half of Ulster's population lives in counties Antrim and Down. Across the nine counties, according to the aggregate UK 2011 Census for Northern Ireland, and the IRL 2011 Census for counties Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan, there is a Roman Catholic majority over Protestant of 50.8% to 42.7%."Community Background", 2011 Census, for NI, and "Religion", 2011 Census, for RoI
While the traditional counties continue to demarcate areas of local government in the Republic of Ireland, this is no longer the case in Northern Ireland. Since 1974, the traditional counties have a ceremonial role only. Local government in Northern Ireland is now demarcated by 11 districts.
County-based sub-divisions County Population Area County Antrim 618,108 County Armagh 174,792 County Cavan 81,704 County Donegal 167,084 County Down 531,665 County Fermanagh 61,170 County Londonderry 247,132 County Monaghan 65,288 County Tyrone 177,986 Total 2,217,176
Counties shaded in grey are in the Republic of Ireland. Counties shaded in pink are in Northern Ireland.
Council-based sub-divisions
District Council County Cavan Cavan County Council County Donegal Donegal County Council County Monaghan Monaghan County Council Fermanagh and Omagh Fermanagh and Omagh District Council Derry and Strabane Derry and Strabane District Council Mid-Ulster Mid-Ulster District Council Causeway Coast and Glens Causeway Coast and Glens District Council Mid and East Antrim Mid and East Antrim District Council Antrim and Newtownabbey Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council Ards and North Down Ards and North Down Borough Council Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon District Council Lisburn and Castlereagh Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council Newry, Mourne and Down Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Belfast Belfast City Council
Largest settlements Settlements in Ulster with at least 14,000 inhabitants, listed in order of population: Belfast (480,000) Derry (105,000) Lisburn (75,000) Craigavon (65,000) Bangor (58,400) Ballymena (28,700) Newtownards (27,800) Newry (27,400) Carrickfergus (27,200) Coleraine (25,000) Antrim (20,000) Omagh (19,800) Letterkenny (19,600) Larne (18,200) Banbridge (14,700) Armagh (14,500)
Economy
The GDP of the province of Ulster is around €50 billion. Salary levels are the lowest on the island of Ireland.
Area Population Country Largest settlement GDP € GDP per person € Greater Belfast 720,000 NI Belfast €20.9 bn €33,550 Border Region (includes two non-Ulster counties) 430,000 (roughly half in Ulster) IRLLetterkenny €10.7 bn €21,100 East of Northern Ireland 430,000 NIBallymena €9.5 bn €20,300 North of Northern Ireland 280,000NI Derry €5.5 bn €18,400 West and South of Northern Ireland 400,000 NINewry €8.4 bn €19,300
Physical geography The biggest lake in the British Isles, Lough Neagh, lies in eastern Ulster. The province's highest point, Slieve Donard (), stands in County Down. The most northerly point in Ireland, Malin Head, is in County Donegal, as are the sixth-highest () sea cliffs in Europe, at Slieve League, and the province's largest island, Arranmore. The most easterly point in Ireland is also in Ulster, in County Down, and the most westerly point in the UK is in County Fermanagh. The longest river in the British Isles, the Shannon, rises at the Shannon Pot in County Cavan with underground tributaries from County Fermanagh. 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. Ulster also has a significant drumlin belt. The geographical centre of Ulster lies between the villages of Pomeroy and Carrickmore in County Tyrone. In terms of area, County Donegal is the largest county in all of Ulster.
Transport
Air The province's main airport is Belfast International Airport (popularly called Aldergrove Airport), which is located at Aldergrove, 11.5 miles northwest of Belfast near Antrim. George Best Belfast City Airport (sometimes referred to as "the City Airport" or "the Harbour Airport") is another, smaller airport which is located at Sydenham in Belfast. The City of Derry Airport is located at Eglinton, east of the city of Derry. There is also Donegal Airport (), popularly known as Carrickfinn Airport, which is located in The Rosses.
Rail Railway lines are run by NI Railways (NIR). Belfast to Bangor and Belfast to Lisburn are strategically the most important routes on the network with the greatest number of passengers and largest profit margins. The Belfast-Derry railway line connecting Derry~Londonderry railway station, via Coleraine, Ballymoney, Ballymena and Antrim, with Lanyon Place and Belfast Grand Central is a noted scenic route. Belfast is also connected with Carrickfergus and Larne Harbour, Portadown, Newry and onwards, via the Enterprise service jointly operated by NIR and Iarnród Éireann, to Dublin Connolly.
The main railway lines linking to and from Belfast Grand Central and Belfast Lanyon Place are: The Derry Line and the Portrush Branch The Larne Line The Bangor Line The Portadown Line
Only five Irish counties, all in Southern and Western Ulster, currently have no mainline railway. The historic Great Northern Railway of Ireland connected them. They are Cavan, Monaghan, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Donegal. A plan to re-link Sligo and Derry through Donegal has been postponed until at least 2030.
Languages and dialects