Movement of British Settlers into Ulster in the 17th Century

by William Macafee (Guild member)

(This article was originally published in Familia: Ulster Genealogical Review, no. 8 (1992))

The aim of this paper is to examine the movement of British settlers into Ulster during the seventeenth century and their spread throughout the province. The first part of the paper discusses the sources which are available to reconstruct the numbers at various times throughout the century.

The second part of the paper considers the various phases of colonisation between 1600 and 1700 looking at the numbers involved, why they came, and where they settled. Table 1 gives details of the numbers of Scottish and English households in each of the nine counties of Ulster during the 1660s and Table 2 gives estimates of Ulster’s population, particularly the British component, at various times throughout the period.

As far as the first half of the seventeenth century is concerned there are several surveys extant for those areas of the province affected by the official Plantation e.g. Carew's Survey of 1611, Pynnar in 1619 and Phillips and Hadsor in 1622. However the first source available for virtually the entire province are the Muster Rolls for c. 1630.

There are a number of problems associated with the use of this source. Firstly, the figures refer only to adult males. Various ratios have been suggested to convert these into families and households. Robinson in his stud of the Plantation in Co. Tyrone found that, in those instances where both the number of families and adult males were given, the number of adult males per family ranged from 1.8 to 2.7.

Perceval-Maxwell used a conversion factor of 2. It is very difficult to choose between these ratios mainly because we know very little about the size and structure of households at that time.

Morgan's study of Blaris in the late seventeenth century indicated a completed family size of approximately 5 and early eighteenth-century statistics suggest a mean household size of 4.7. It is unlikely that household size during the seventeenth century was greater. For the purposes of this paper a conversion factor of 2 a mean household size 4.7 have been chosen.

The second problem associated with the Muster Rolls is the fact that, in common with all statistical sources for the seventeenth century, they seriously underestimate the actual population. It is of course difficult to access the full extent of the underestimation. In some cases figures do not exist for certain areas: in Donegal, for example, no muster is available for the barony of Kilmacrenan, yet an earlier report of the Provost-Marshal indicated some 128 Scots and English in the barony. In Co. Londonderry there is no muster extant for the lands of the Salter's Company. Even in the case of those musters which are extant it is fairly clear that under-recording is a serious problem.

Th extant Muster Rolls produce a total of 13,137 adult males in Ulster in 1630, a figure consistent with Wentworth's contemporary estimate of 13,092 British men aged between 16 and 60 in the province during the 1630s. Using the conversion factor of two, mentioned above, this produces a figure of 6,671 British households in the province of which 3,879 were Scottish and 2,792 English. This suggests a total population in excess of 30,000 with the Scots forming just over 60% of the total. This figure of 30,000 has to be seen as representing the minimum number of British settlers in the province by 1630; obviously there were more than this. An estimate nearer to 40,000 might be more appropriate and indeed even a British population of 50,000 would, by the standards of the later seventeenth century, have been relatively small.

Table 1 - British Population in Ulster by County, 1630-1660s

Households 1630

County English Scots Total
Antrim 159 665 824
Armagh 354 108 462
Cavan 296 123 419
Donegal 204 430 634
Down 553 1570 2123
Fermanagh 242 244 486
Londonderry 677 288 965
Monaghan - - -
Tyrone 298 460 758
Total 2783 3888 6671


Households 1660s

County English Scots Total
Antrim 2903 5512 8415
Armagh 865 212 1077
Cavan - - -
Donegal 416 1237 1653
Down - - 2973
Fermanagh - - 818
Londonderry 1069 703 1772
Monaghan 177 47 224
Tyrone 337 842 1179
Total 5767 8553 18111

English and Scots have been identified by surname. Since there are some names which could be either Scots or English, the division can only be approximate.

SOURCES: The 1630 figures are based on the Muster Rolls. These list adult males and these have been converted to households by dividing them by 2.0. The 1660 figures are based on the Hearth Money Rolls, except Down and Fermanagh.

The latter are based on S. Pender, A Census of Ireland circa 1659, Dublin, 1939. In the case of the 1659 census the household figures were obtained by dividing the number of adults by 2.2

The first source available for the seventeenth century which provides some evidence of the total population of Ulster is dated 1659. This source is generally known as Pender's Census because Pender, who was responsible for its publication in 1939, regarded it as a count of the whole population and, therefore, as a census. More recent opinion, however, considers it to have been a Poll Tax which listed adults over the age of fifteen. Once again a multiplier is required to convert it to a proper census.

As mentioned earlier, any evidence we have for the later seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries points to a household size of 5.0 or even less. This would suggest a multiplier lying somewhere between 2.0 and 2.5. When allowance is made for underestimation and evasion, the 'census' suggests a total population for Ulster of around 300,000. It is difficult to estimate the size of the British in 1659 but given the circumstances after 1641 and the estimates available for later in the century it is unlikely to have been much more than 100,000.

Table 2 - Population Estimates for Ulster and Ireland, 1600-1712

Year British Irish Ulster Total Ireland Total
1600 - 180000? 180000? 1100000?
1630 40000* 200000? 240000? -
1670 120000** 230000** 350000** -
1687 - - 1700000+ -
1712 270000+ 330000+ 6000000+ 2200000+

* These figures are based on the Muster Rolls for circa 1630

** These figures are based on the Hearth Returns for the 1660s and Pender's Census circa 1659.

+ These figures are based on the Hearth Returns.

There is a major source, the Hearth Tax Returns, available for the period 1664-69 which does give us a clearer idea of the numbers and geographical distribution of British settlers in the province around the middle of the century. The Hearth Money Tax was introduced into Ireland in 1662 as part of a general revision of the Irish fiscal system. A sum of 2/= per anum had to be paid on all chimneys, stoves and hearths unless the occupier of the house was exempt from payment. Persons whose house and land were worth less than 8/= per anum and whose personal property was worth less than 4 were exempt. Fragments of the Hearth returns are extant for the counties of Antrim (1669), Armagh (1664), Donegal (1665), Londonderry (1663), Monaghan (1663-1665), and Tyrone (1666 and 1670).

Assessment of the accuracy of these returns is very difficult because not only is there the problem of evasion but also that of exemption and there appears to have been considerable confusion among collectors regarding exemption in the early years of the tax. Comparison, by the author, of the Hearth Returns and Poll Tax Returns for the parish of Donagheady in Co. Tyrone suggests that they probably underestimate the British population in the province by 30-40%. Overall it must be said that these early Hearth Returns are probably more useful in giving some impression of the regional spread of the immigrant British population than in producing, even after adjustment, reasonably accurate estimates of total population in the middle of the seventeenth century. Since the Hearth Returns are a count of households a multiplier is necessary to convert them to a census. Once again a factor of 4.7 has been used.

Figure 1 - Province of Ulster: Settlement of Scottish and English Undertakers during the Seventeenth Century

Figure 1 - Province of Ulster: Settlement of Scottish and English Undertakers during the Seventeenth Century

Figure 2 - Province of Ulster: Counties and Baronies

Figure 2 - Province of Ulster: Counties and Baronies

The major thrust of immigration was initiated by the Plantation of Ulster which covered six of the nine counties of the province, Antrim, Down and Monaghan being excluded from the official scheme. This scheme made land available to undertakers and servitors from England and Scotland who were required to settle their estate with tenants form the mainland. Initially colonisation was slow and many undertakers were prepared to let their lands to the native Irish.

Perceval-Maxwell in his study of Scottish migration to Ulster during the reign of James I pointed to an acceleration in the rate of Scottish migration between 1613 and 1619. Gillespie’s study of settlement in east Ulster also agreed that settlement appeared to have expanded at a greater rate in the second decade of the century. Robinson’s study of the Plantation in Tyrone suggested that the influx of British settlers into Tyrone in the period 1618-1622 was possibly greater than, and at least on the same scale as the entire influx in the preceding seven years. Such a pattern of migration is consistent with other movements of population from the mainland, eg the number of English settlers migrating to Virginia was low during the period 1607-17 but by 1618-24 their numbers had increased sevenfold.

Despite this initial influx of settlers, their numbers do not appear to have been as great as the architects of the Plantation scheme would have desired. The Muster Rolls suggest a total British population of some 40,000 persons by 1630 with the Scots forming just over 60% of the total. Clearly, with a settler population at 40,000 the official Plantation was just beginning to make some impact on the ground.

The areas where the colonists chose to settle were influenced by two major factors. Firstly, there was the distribution of the estates of English and Scottish undertakers to which landlords and their agents encouraged or brought over settlers. The majority of settlers arriving in the province during the early years of the Plantation were probably of this type. However, as the century progressed more unaided settlers began to come. The places they chose to settle were often related to their point of entry which, usually, was one of the major ports viz. Derry, Coleraine, Carrickfergus, Belfast and Donaghadee.

In general, with the exception of Co. Down, the Scots were more numerous in the north of the province with the English more predominant in the area of the province stretching from the Lagan valley, through north Armagh, and the Clogher valley. The granting of the county of Londonderry to the London companies gave them a substantial foothold in the north of the province. Table 1 gives details of the estimated numbers of Scots and English households in each county by 1630. This data shows that Scots were most dominant in Antrim and Down where they formed 81% and 74% respectively, of the settler population. Within Co. Antrim two-thirds of the Scots were to be found on the lands of the Earl of Antrim in the north of the county. In Donegal three-quarters of the Scots were in the barony of Raphoe and in Tyrone they were concentrated in the baronies of Strabane and Mountjoy.