Scots-Irish heritage: where your family came from
Who the Scots-Irish were, why so many Americans descend from them, and how to follow their route through Scotland and Ulster.
Updated · 7 minute read
If your family has roots in Pennsylvania, the Appalachians, the Carolinas or the Shenandoah Valley, there is a good chance part of your story runs through both Scotland and the north of Ireland.
Who were the Scots-Irish?
From the early 1600s, many thousands of Lowland Scots, largely Presbyterian, crossed the narrow sea to Ulster, particularly during and after the Plantation of Ulster. Over the following century many of their descendants emigrated again, to colonial America, often sailing from ports such as Derry and Belfast. In America they became known as the Scots-Irish; in Northern Ireland the heritage is often called Ulster Scots.
Where the story is found
- The Scottish Lowlands. Ayrshire, Galloway and the Borders, including the country of the Border reiver families.
- Ulster. The counties of the plantation, their towns and churches.
- The ports. Derry and Belfast, where so many families left for Philadelphia and the colonies.
- The Ulster American Folk Park. An outdoor museum near Omagh that tells the story of emigration from Ulster to America.
Records
Scottish records can be searched at the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh, and Northern Irish records at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) in Belfast. Records from this period are patchy, and we are always straightforward about what can and cannot be proven.
Following the road
Our Scots-Irish Trail follows this route in twelve days, from Edinburgh through the Borders and Galloway, across to Belfast and on to Derry and Donegal. We shape it around your surname and whatever your family knows.
