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by Dr William Roulston
"Almost unique in Ulster, the current duke of Abercorn lives in the same area granted to his ancestors nearly 400 years ago. The Abercorn estate in north-west Ulster owes its origins to the scheme for the Plantation in Ulster in the early seventeenth century when the present duke's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather was granted land in the barony of Strabane.
In the eighteenth century careful management by the eighth earl of Abercorn transformed the estate into one of the wealthiest in Ulster. This was built upon by subsequent members of the family. The ninth earl was created a marquess in 1790 and in 1868 his grandson was made first duke of Abercorn: Abercorn remains Ulster's only dukedom."
This article looks at how the Abercorn estate in Ulster changed during the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries.