How did the idea for the Plantation of Ulster arise?

Migration – The Plantation of Ulster, 1593-1643

In this course, Dr Ruth Canning (Liverpool Hope University) explores the Plantation of Ulster. In the first lecture, we think about how the idea for the Plantation of Ulster came about. In the second lecture, we think about what the plans and goals for the Plantation of Ulster were. In the third lecture, we think about who the people were who involved themselves in the plantation’s creation and operation. Next, we think about how tensions in Ireland led to the Irish Rebellion of 1641. In the fifth and final lecture, we think about the impacts and outcomes of the Plantation of Ulster.

How did the idea for the Plantation of Ulster arise?

In this lecture, we think about how the idea for the Plantation of Ulster arose, focusing in particular on: (i) James I as the monarch in power at the time of the establishment of the Plantation of Ulster; (ii) the celebration of the ascension of James I by Gaelic people as they saw this as an opportunity for all of Gaeldom to be under one Gaelic ruler; (iii) the Nine Years’ War (1593-1603), which had ravaged Ireland in the latter part of Elizabeth I’s reign; (iv) Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, as a key figure in the opposition to English rule over Ireland; (v) Hugh O’Neill’s leadership of the Irish Catholic Confederates during the Nine Years’ War alongside ‘red’ Hugh Roe O’Donnell and Hugh Maguire; (vi) the implementation of a scorched earth campaign by the English during the Nine Years’ War to great effect; (vii) the damage incurred from the Nine Years’ War by both Ireland and England; (viii) John Davies, Attorney General for Ireland, who advocated for the reallocation of Irish land to loyal English and Scottish people; (ix) James I’s response to the Nine Years’ War being to pardon and return land to Hugh O’Neill and his Irish Catholic Confederate leaders, so as to avoid another war; (x) the presence and authority of Hugh O’Neill in Ulster as a limiter of English crown plans to establish colonies in the North of Ireland; (xi) the Flight of the Earls in 1607, when Hugh O’Neill and other leaders fled Ireland for Italy; (xii) O’Doherty’s Rebellion in 1608, which saw the burning of Derry in April, before his death in July at the Battle of Kilmacrennan; (xiii) the Plantation of Ulster as a proposed solution to rule over Ireland in the absence of the native leaders; (xiv) Thomas Blenerhasset’s writing, which highlighted the view that Ireland was an opportunity for England’s self-sufficiency.