Ulster

Ulster is the most northerly of the four provinces of Ireland. It consists of nine counties. These are Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, Monaghan and Tyrone. Three of the counties are part of the Republic of Ireland and the other six form Northern Ireland.

The name derives from that of the Ulaid, a large tribe of the area, noted by Ptolemy as the Uluti or Voluntii, and the combination of the Norse word for "place" - staðr.

Naming

The name of the province is often used to refer to Northern Ireland, excluding the three counties which are in the Republic. Sometimes this was historical in context - some of the names of organisations having been created before the cessation of the Irish Free State from the union. Organisations such as Ulster Bank, the Ulster Unionist Party, and the original Ulster Volunteer Force were all created before 1921. Other organisations, such as the Ulster Television, the Democratic Unionist Party and the more recent UVF were created more for a traditional purpose. While it is not actually correct to refer to it as "Ulster", and can cause offence, some take to doing so simply to shorten the name of Northern Ireland.

The population of the province exceeds two million, with the most populous area being to the east, in and around Belfast.

Cities

There are officially five cities in Ulster, all of which are within Northern Ireland: Armagh, Belfast, and Lisburn, Londonderry and Newry.

Belfast is by far the largest city, acting as the commercial and industrial hub of the region. Historically the center of Irelands manufacturing and industrial power during the British Empire, it has since partition suffered economically, as have all the cities of the region. Since the advent of the Peace Process, the Good Friday Agreement and relative peace for the region, prosperity has begun to trickle into Belfast once again.

History

See Northern Ireland, history.

As with all the provinces of Ireland, Ulster's territorial boundary was established by representatives of the British monarchy. The extent of the region that had been known as Ulster had varied widely before that. At one point the area included around a third to a half of the island, and at it's lowest proportion it included only an area roughly congruent with the counties of Antrim and Down.

Sport

Although football and motor sports are popular throughout the province, there are sports teams specific to the province, represented in Gaelic football, hurling and rugby union.