Why this blog? Why Ulster Connections?

As a South Carolinian who found out about my Ulster-Scots ancestry rather late in life I felt deprived somewhat, spending all those years rather confused about my heritage. There is widespread confusion in America among people of Ulster-Scots (or more commonly called "Scots-Irish" or Scotch-Irish" in the States) background. Having lived in America for as long as we have (most of our ancestors having crossed the Atlantic and settled in the New World in the 1700's) and being so instrumental in the founding of "America" as we know her, many Ulster-Scots Americans have lost or partially lost their identity and family memory of their roots in Ulster. Some of these folks mistakenly believe themselves to be just "Irish" - as I did for most of my childhood and even into university years. For those who examine it carefully, they'll find, for instance, that their ancestors have been in the New World so long while most Irish Catholics are relative new-comers. Yet most people do not delve into the question deeply.

A few years ago I began studying my own heritage more thoroughly and especially the Ulster-Scots connections. My mother's side of the family are McClains from North Carolina long ago, who at least in recent family memory (going back into the late 1800's) have lived in southern Georgia with other people like themselves. Being very poor farmers who barely scratched out a living on the edges of the Okefenokee Swamp for generation after generation with others of similar surnames, appearance, values, etc., you can see how confusion would set in after a while as to their origins long ago. The more I dug, the more connections I saw between our family and those like us throughout North America (though mostly centered in the South and Appalachia) and even back across the Atlantic in Ulster.

While working for a few years in Europe, I was able to visit Ulster and there met people very much like myself - people with a fierce sense of loyalty, honour, family pride and a communion with the soil and country itself. I traveled around Ulster with a friend from Belfast and we saw the ancestral homes of Stonewall Jackson and Andrew Jackson. We visited Londonderry and there I marched alongside the men in Orange (who came from across Ulster, Scotland and from as far away as Australia, New Zealand, North America and Africa) across the bridge and through that historic town which was laid siege in 1688-1689. I drank beers with folks in small neighbourhood pubs in Belfast and other towns, sharing conversation with people who constantly reminded me of my own culture back in South Carolina.

So that is sort of a round-about way of explaining why this blog exists. I would like to see more connections built and more awareness of our common ancestry as Ulster-Scots and Ulsterfolk no matter where we may be living in the world today. Our ancestors who were so instrumental in the founding of not just Ulster but also many other countries are a largely forgotten and ignored people today. The heritage and history of other peoples are routinely celebrated while ours is not. This is something we can correct. And that is why we're here. I hope you enjoy this blog!