21 Facts About Ulster

Unlike the other provinces, Ulster has a high percentage of Protestants, making up almost half of its population.

Ulster became the most thoroughly Gaelic and independent of Ireland's provinces.

Six Ulster counties became Northern Ireland, a self-governing territory within the United Kingdom, while the rest of Ireland became the Irish Free State, now the Republic of Ireland.

Term Ulster has no official function for local government purposes in either state.

Ulster is still known as Cuige Uladh in Irish, meaning the province of the Ulaidh.

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Volcanic activity in eastern Ulster led to the formation of the Antrim Plateau and the Giant's Causeway, one of Ireland's three UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

In 637, the Battle of Moira, known archaically as the Battle of Magh Rath, was fought by the Gaelic High King of Ireland Domhnall II against his foster son King Congal Caech of Ulster, supported by his ally Domhnall the Freckled of Dalriada.

Plantation of Ulster was the organised colonisation of Ulster by people from Great Britain .

The efforts to attract colonists from England and Scotland to the Ulster Plantation were considerably affected by the existence of British colonies in the Americas, which served as a more attractive destination for many potential emigrants.

Plantation of Ulster continued well into the 18th century, interrupted only by the Irish Rebellion of 1641.

The war in Ulster ended with the defeat of the native army at the Battle of Scarrifholis, near Newmills on the western outskirts of Letterkenny, County Donegal, in 1650, as part of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland conducted by Oliver Cromwell and the New Model Army, the aim of which was to expel all native Irish to the Province of Connaught.

Thereafter, Ulster remained firmly under Williamite control and William's forces completed their conquest of the rest of Ireland in the next two years.

Considerable numbers of Ulster-Scots emigrated to the North American colonies throughout the 18th century .

Sectarian divisions in Ulster became hardened into the political categories of unionist and nationalist .

Low-level violence continued in Ulster, causing Michael Collins in the south to order a boycott of Northern products in protest at attacks on the Nationalist community there.

Electorally, voting in the six Northern Ireland counties of Ulster tends to follow religious or sectarian lines; noticeable religious demarcation does not exist in the South Ulster counties of Cavan and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland.

At international level players from Ulster join with those from the other 3 provinces to form the Irish national team.

Ulster enters two teams into the Interprovincial Series; the North Knights and the North West Warriors, who are the respective representative teams of the Northern Cricket Union and the North West Cricket Union .

Ulster has produced many great players over the years, from Fred Daly winning The Open Championship in 1947 at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake to most recently Rory McIlroy winning the US Open and Darren Clarke winning The Open Championship in 2011.

Ulster has another Major winner in Graeme McDowell, who won the US Open in 2010.

In horse racing, specifically National Hunt, Ulster has produced the most dominant jockey of all time, Tony McCoy.