Hype for the Future 78H: West Virginia 🇺🇸 and Northern Ireland 🇬🇧 Compared

Introduction

Though located in very different parts of the globe, the State of West Virginia in the United States and the constituent country of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom can appear to have more than just surface-level similarities. While the Scots-Irish settlement was largely associated with the Shenandoah Valley in the modern Commonwealth of Virginia, a number of such frontier settlers would eventually play roles in the development of the modern State of West Virginia.

History

In a number of ways, the modern State of West Virginia can appear surprisingly similar to the historic Plantation of Ulster, especially given the circumstances of the Six Counties. Though West Virginia broke off from the Commonwealth of Virginia during the American Civil War because of the issue of slavery, Northern Ireland actually broke off from Ireland circa 1922 during the partition of Ireland because of the religious divide between Irish Catholics and the predominantly Protestant counties, eventually resulting in the Troubles that had continued until as recently as the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

Settlements

Like Northern Ireland, the State of West Virginia is a predominantly rural area. While Belfast is the capital and largest city in Northern Ireland, with even Londonderry significantly smaller, a similar set of circumstances exist between Charleston, West Virginia, and the surrounding communities, though the population is more scattered than in the historic area of the Six Counties.

Ulster American Folk Park

Located to the north of the community of Omagh in County Tyrone, the Ulster American Folk Park exists to acknowledge the cultural traits of the largely Scots-Irish settlers that have emigrated in the colonial era to settle British Colonial America, largely beginning around Lancaster, Pennsylvania, though continuing largely to the southwest into the Shenandoah Valley and related backcountry regions even further south to effectively settle Appalachia, including with descendants eventually settling the modern State of West Virginia.

Architecture

Interestingly, some of the historic houses in the modern State of West Virginia may have distinctive characteristic similarities with the historic plantations within the greater Plantation of Ulster, now known as Northern Ireland. For instance, the Montalto Estate to the south of Belfast may have been at least distant inspiration for the historic Henderson Hall near the Ohio River downstream from the modern City of Parkersburg.

Hype for the Future 71B: Irish Political Geography

Overview

Traditionally, Ireland has been identified as containing four (4) provinces: Ulster, Connacht (formerly known as Connaught), Munster, and Leinster. Today, the island of Ireland is split between the Republic of Ireland and the constituent country of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. The counties within the United Kingdom are the Counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone.

Traditional Provinces

Within the island of Ireland, the four traditional Irish provinces have been Ulster in the north, Leinster in the east, Munster in the south, and Connacht in the west. Today, each of the counties of Ulster are considered Northern Ireland, with the exceptions of Counties Donegal, Cavan, and Monaghan, all of which are in the Republic of Ireland.

Ulster

Within the traditional Province of Ulster, the nine Irish counties mentioned above—Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, Monaghan, and Tyrone—have been included.

Connacht

Formerly known as Connaught, the traditional Province of Connacht contains Counties Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, and Galway. Each county is located to the southwest of the general area of Ulster and is representative of the western side of the island.

Munster

The southernmost portion of the island of Ireland has been represented by the Province of Munster, home to the Counties Kerry, Clare, Limerick, Cork, Tipperary, and Waterford. County Cork in particular is one of the more populated counties in all of Ireland to this day.

Leinster

Home to the national capital of the Republic of Ireland, Dublin, the Province of Leinster is on the eastern side of the island of Ireland and contains Counties Kilkenny, Wexford, Carlow, Wicklow, Laois, Kildare, Dublin, Offaly, Westmeath, Longford, Westmeath, and Louth.

Hype for the Future 50L: The Government of Northern Ireland

The Partition of Ireland had been established circa 1921 and effective 1922, in which six (6) of the traditional counties—Armagh, Antrim, Down, Tyrone, Londonderry, and Fermanagh—have remained with the United Kingdom though the remainder of the island had effectively returned to pre-1820 sovereign status, has created a tremendous impact and ripple effect within the situation in Northern Ireland in particular. While most of Ireland is associated with Dublin, Northern Ireland is associated with Belfast and maintains a distinct identity previously identified along with Donegal, Cavan, and Monaghan as the Province of Ulster.

As of 1973, the constituent country of Northern Ireland is no longer a country of counties but rather of district areas. In 2015, the district areas had been redistributed again, thus the modern political map of Northern Ireland.

Hype for the Future 50K: Ulster and Northern Ireland Compared

Technically, Ulster could include nine associated Irish counties, though only six of the counties are in Northern Ireland. Donegal is perhaps the most important distinction between Ulster and Northern Ireland, as County Donegal is located at not just the northernmost part of the Republic of Ireland, but also at the northernmost point of the entire island of Ireland.

While most of the Ulster Scots were, in fact, settling Northern Ireland, counties associated with the Republic of Ireland 🇮🇪 nearby were also represented, including the aforementioned Donegal. However, a disproportionate amount of the Scots-Irish to British Colonial America were associated with Counties Armagh and Antrim.

Traditionally, Ulster was the name of one of the four traditional Provinces of Ireland, being the second-largest by area after Munster and the second-largest by population after Leinster. The other traditional Province of Ireland was the Province of Connacht (formerly Connaught), located on the western side of the island. Munster was located in the southwest, and Leinster served much of the east and southeast of the island.

Today, the constituent country of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom contains the Counties Armagh, Antrim, Down, Londonderry (Derry), Tyrone, and Fermanagh, while the counties in the Republic of Ireland that have also traditionally been identified as Ulster are the Counties Donegal, Cavan, and Monaghan.