1.3.3 Ulster Plantations

Question 1

Why did the British plant protestants in Ireland?

Answer 1

Catholic Ireland had always been considered ‘uncivilised’ by the Protestant British; so the British planted loyal Protestants in Ireland in an attempt to replace the Catholic population, promote Protestantism and bring it under British control

Question 2

Why did the British think Ireland was savage? (2)

Answer 2

• England had traditionally struggled to control Ireland. The area beyond ‘The Pale’ had always been seen by the English as uncivilised and savage
• The British believed that the failure of the Irish to convert to Protestantism in the 17th Century provided further evidence to confirm their ideas about Ireland. They thought Catholicism was a backwards religion

Question 3

How did Spain being a threat to England add to this fear of the Irish?

Answer 3

Catholic Spain was England’s main rival at the time, and there was a worry that the two countries could pose a threat to England

Question 4

Describe how the British were going to spread Protestantism (2)

Answer 4

• The English wanted to colonise the northern part of Ireland, known as Ulster, and make it a perfect example of British-led, Protestant civilisation
• The term they would use for this would be ‘plantations’, meaning they would plan British Protestants in Ulster

Question 5

When did King James I of Britain decide to settle English and Scottish Protestants in Ulster?

Answer 5

1607

Question 6

What was King James’ idea about what he would do once he settled the Protestants in Ireland?

Answer 6

The idea was to eventually convert the Catholic Irish natives to Protestants who would be loyal to Britain

Question 7

Was the Ulster Plantations a success for King James I? (4)

Answer 7

• Although British Protestants did settle in Ulster, they did not push out the native, Catholic population
• In 1622, there were about 1000 British Protestant settlers compared to 4000 native Irish Catholics
• Most Irish people resented the settlers migrating out of Britain to Ireland - they saw this as an invasion
• The resentment between Protestant settlers and the mainly Catholic Irish continued for centuries

Question 8

What was the negative impact of the Ulster Plantations?

Answer 8

The migration of thousands of British Protestants to Ulster would have serious repercussions in Ireland for centuries to come, causing serious tensions between the Catholic and Protestant populations