UNTIL the 17th century, Ulster was one of the most Gaelic provinces of Ireland. The charm of the land, with its soft glens and mist-hung mountains, its harpers, poets, cattle raids and mythic storytelling, powerfully attracted the English settlers in Dublin and the area around it known as the Pale. Though most of the chiefs of the north had made a token submission to the English Crown, they actually ruled with little outside interference.
It was Queen Elizabeth who made the first determined effort to bring Ulster to heel. Hugh O'Neill and his Ulster ally, Red Hugh O'Donnell, rebelled against this effort,...
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