Thursday 19 July 2012

Two freebies from BooksIreland

BooksIreland, the bookstore of the not-for-profit Ulster Historical Foundation, is offering researchers a couple of freebies. Details are below. In each case, postage and packing (worldwide) is also free.

These aren't the only good offers from the company (see my post a week or so ago about their summer sale), so take a look around the store to see if there are other bargains worth picking up.

For now, here are the freebies:

The Plantation of Ulster 1610-1630 Map & Pocket Guide:


In the early seventeenth century 20-30,000 Scots crossed the North Channel into Ireland. Together they formed part of one of the most significant movements of people in these islands. Many came to the settlements in north-east County Down encouraged by two Ayrshire Scots Sir James Hamilton and Sir Hugh Montgomery from 1606 onwards. Others settled in County Antrim on the lands of the MacDonnells and others.

The official Plantation that affected counties Armagh, Cavan, Donegal, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone was different for here settlement was not the result of private endeavour, but rather was part of a government-directed scheme of colonisation. This was Scotland's first, and ultimately most successful, project of colonisation beyond its shores. This map and pocket history tells this story.

The Scots in Ulster Surname Map & Pocket History:

Many people have emigrated from Scotland over the centuries. Some went directly to America, but others first emigrated to Ulster. This booklet contains a beautiful fold out map that will introduce you to the Ulster Scots story and tell you how some of them later became Scots-Irish.

It includes a list of surnames of the first Scottish settlers in Ulster and identifies some of the buildings that they established.