The Scotch-Irish

The Scotch-Irish began emigrating to Northern Ireland from Scotland in the seventeenth century to form the Ulster Plantation. In the next century these Scottish Presbyterians migrated to the Western Hemisphere in search of a better life. Except for the English, the Scotch-Irish were the largest ethnic group to come to the New World during the eighteenth century. By the time of the American Revolution there were an estimated 250,000 Scotch-Irish in the colonies, about a tenth of the population. Twelve U.S. presidents can trace their lineage to the Scotch-Irish. This work discusses the life of the Scotch-Irish in Ireland, their treatment by their English overlords, the reasons for emigration to America, the settlement patterns in the New World, the movement westward across America, life on the colonial frontier, Scotch-Irish contributions to America’s development, and sites of Scotch-Irish interest in the north of Ireland.

Ron Chepesiuk is a professor and head of special collections at Winthrop University. He is also the author of Sixties Radicals, Then and Now (1995), Raising Hell (1997) and Hard Target (1999). He lives in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Ron Chepesiuk

Format: softcover (5.5 x 8.5)
Pages: 182
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2005 [2000]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-2273-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vi
Introduction      1
Prologue: Going to America: The Thomas Mellon Experience      5

1. Ireland and Scotland Before the Plantation      9
2. The Ulster Plantation      33
3. Scotch-Irish Presbyterianism Takes Root in the Seventeenth Century      51
4. The Siege of Derry and the Protestant Triumph      73
5. Sailing West for the Promised Land      93
6. Settling the New Land      115
7. Life on the Frontier      129
8. The Scotch-Irish and the Making of America      137

Appendix: Scotch-Irish Sites of Historical Interest in the North of Ireland      147
Notes      153
Bibliography      161
Index      167

• “highly readable”—Choice
• “covers a subject of interest to many genealogists…comprehensive”—Today’s Librarian
• “very interesting and readable history…recommended”—Rambles
• “well-written…well-indexed and has a comprehensive bibliography”—Ulster Nation