Originally Posted by
Caledonian Rhyfelwyr
Many people seem to buy into the Irish nationalist narrative, that all of Ireland (including Ulster) has throughout its history been culturally, ethnically and politically distinct from the rest of the united Kingdom; save for foreign rule or plantations that were enforced on the Irish people. The modern day British people of Ulster are seen as a colonial population implanted by the British authorities.However, this narrative is in the case of Ulster false. For thousands of years, the region has been historically distinct form the rest of Ireland.
The earliest maps we have of Ireland describe a people living in the north of the island (modern day Ulster) as 'Cruthin'. This is the exact same word used to describe the Picts of Scotland, a people who spoke a P-Celtic language, as opposed to the Goidilic population of the rest of the island, which spoke a Q-Celtic language. The term Cruthin is used by both early Irish writers, and by Ptolemy's famous map of the island. It is generally believed that the P-Celtic Picts predated the later Q-Celtic arrivals, which were of Spanish descent. Hence, although the term 'Ulster' comes from the Gaelic 'Ulaid' which were regarded as a separate people from the Cruithin, the Cruithin Dál nAraide dynasty referred to themselves as "the true Ulaid", suggesting that they had been displaced by them from eastern Ulster.
In the dark ages, the Kingdom of Dal Riada spanned both Ulster and western Scotland. It was from these Irish overlords - the 'Scotti', that Scotland takes its name from. In the past, most historians believed that Dal Riada was formed in Scotland through invasion from Ireland, however nowadays it is thought to have come about through shared trade/familial/cultural ties. The thing is, people tend to regard the sea as a dividing line, but this is not always true. The people of western Scotland had a strong naval tradition since the interior land was often rough and hostile. Hence, the sea functions like a highway between Ulster and Scotland, to the point that they were united under one king.
Enter into the early medieval period, and the experience of Ulster is again different from the rest of Ireland, but rooted in Scotland. While most of Ireland was planted by Anglo-Norman nobility, Ulster received an influx of Scoto-Norman overlords, which were heavily Gaelicized and owed allegiance to the Scottish rather than English kings. One of the most notable of these was the Mac Eoin Bissett family, which sheltered Robert the Bruce during the Scottish Wars of Independence, and were heavily involved in the later Bruce Wars in Ireland. During this time, many Scots settled in Ulster, having been welcomed by the Irish Lords, often being brought over as mercenaries. The Gallowglasses were often given land in return for military service, and were used to help repopulate the Ulster landscape, which had been devastated by constant warfare and raiding. It is thought that in the medieval period, the population of Ulster was as low as 40,000. Thus, Scottish clans such as the MacDonnell's of Antrim came to have a strong presence in the region. Again, they came to be their through the natural migrations of peoples, via the ancient familial, cultural, trade, and political ties between Ulster and Scotland.
So, you can see that Ulster and Scotland were clearly intertwined for the bulk of their history. However, many people think that such ties only began with the Plantations - another matter that they do not understand. Now, there were official Plantations set up by the British establishment to colonise Ulster - these were in counties Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Armagh. Irish nationalists argue that the British population of Ulster is an entirely artificial population put in place by these plantations. However, this is nonsense. Of the counties mentioned, Donegal, Monaghan and Cavan are all already in the Republic of Ireland anyway! Note also that Antrim and Down - which include Belfast and the bulk of the modern day Protestant/British area, were never part of the government plantations anyway! So only the three westernmost counties of Northern Ireland were ever part of the government plantations. Even at the time of the plantations, it is thought that they only accounted for 1/3 of the British population of Ulster - the rest were those who had migrated there through existing clan/familial ties.
So, because of all this, I believe that the Irish nationalist narrative of the British in Ulster is myth, and the rest of the world needs to be aware of this when they try to write thousands of years of history out of existence, and slander the Ulster British/Protestant population as colonists and imperialists..
Ulster is Britain
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Personally, as a proud Celtic F.C. fan, I would be happy to welcome Northern Ireland into an independent Scotland, seeing as I effectively grew up in a somewhat sanitised version of Belfast. Ireland and Scotland are indeed very much linked, though I can't quite see the link between that and Ulster being British. 
