Ulster-Scots Towns & Villages
Many of the towns and villages in the Ards and north Down existed before the arrival of the lowland Scots in 1606, but only in a very small way.
Over the centuries, waves of people – local Gaelic Irish, early Christians and monks, Viking invaders and Anglo-
Norman lords - have all left traces on our landscape.
But the earliest surviving maps of the area, from the 1500s, show very little evidence of organized settlements – just some abbeys, churches and castles.
The rapid development of the Ards and north Down was due to James Hamilton, Hugh Montgomery and their Scottish tenants.
Most of these tenants were farming families, and can be traced to specific rural townlands which lie between the villages and towns that we know today.
Over 150 years later, a census of 1764 recorded that the Ards and north Down were 95% Presbyterian – a legacy of enormous Scottish migration. And migration between the Ards, north Down and Scotland has continued ever since.
A few villages didn’t develop until the late 1700s and early 1800s. The list included here focuses on the 1600s lowland Scottish story of our towns and villages.
Follow the link below for further information on Ulster-Scots Towns & Villages in North Down:
Click here for more information on the Ulster Scots heritage of Bangor.
Click here for more information on Ulster Scots heritage of Crawfordsburn.
Click here for more information on Ulster Scots heritage of Holywood.
Click here for more information on Ulster Scots heritage of Conlig.