Scottish Presbyterian Families Migrate to Ulster, Ireland
1603-1718 CE
The Ulster Plantation (1609-1718) was a systematic colonization program that brought thousands of Scottish Presbyterian families, including the McCrearys, from Scotland to Ulster (Northern Ireland). After the Flight of the Earls in 1607, when Gaelic Irish lords fled to continental Europe, approximately 4 million acres of land became available for settlement.
King James I (who was also James VI of Scotland) actively recruited Scottish Lowlanders, particularly Presbyterians, to settle confiscated lands. The short sea crossing—just 13 miles at the narrowest point between Ayrshire and Antrim—made Ulster more accessible than other colonial destinations.
By 1718, approximately 50,000-100,000 Scottish families had settled in Ulster. However, they faced "double discrimination": resented by Irish Catholics for taking their land, and discriminated against by English Anglicans who controlled the government. This tension, combined with economic hardship, would eventually drive the great emigration to America beginning in 1717.