Ulster Scots people
The Ulster Scots (Ulster-Scots: Ulstèr-Scotch; Irish: Albanaigh Uladh), also called Ulster Scots people (Ulstèr-Scotch fowk)[6] or, in North America, Scotch-Irish (Scotch-Airisch[7]) or Scots-Irish, are an ethnic group[8][9][10][11] in Ireland, who share a common history, culture and ancestry, some of whom speak an Ulster Scots dialect of the Scots language, a West Germanic language. As an ethnicity, they descend largely from Scottish and English settlers who moved to the north of Ireland, during the 17th century.[12][13][14]
Not to be confused with Scotch-Irish Americans or Irish Scottish people.Regions with significant populations
- 3,007,722,[1][2] estimated
- Scotch‑Irish
Found mostly in the province of Ulster, and to a lesser extent in the rest of Ireland, their ancestors were Protestant, mainly Presbyterian, Anglican, and Methodist settlers who migrated from the Scottish Lowlands and Northern England during the Plantation of Ulster.[15] The largest numbers came from Dumfries and Galloway, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Ayrshire, Scottish Borders, Northumberland, Cumbria, Durham, Yorkshire and to a much lesser extent, from the Scottish Highlands.[16] Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. The majority of people living in Northern Ireland are British and/or Irish citizens.
The Ulster Scots migrated to Ireland in large numbers both as a result of the government-sanctioned Plantation of Ulster, a planned process of colonisation which took place under the auspices of James VI of Scotland and I of England on land confiscated from members of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland who fled Ulster, and as part of a larger migration or unplanned wave of settlement.
Ulster Scots people emigrated from Ireland in significant numbers to the American colonies, later the United States, and elsewhere in the British Empire. Scotch-Irish (or Scots-Irish) is a traditional term for Ulster Scots who emigrated to America.[a]
Hereditary disease[edit]
The North American ancestry of the X-linked form of the genetic disease congenital nephrogenic diabetes insipidus has been traced to Ulster Scots who travelled to Nova Scotia in 1761 on the ship Hopewell.[37]