I'jth February^ 1893. 



Professor M. F. Fitzgerald, B.A., M.I.C.E., President, in 

 the Chair. 



"HISTORIC ULSTER." 



By Miss MiLLiGAN, Member of the Royal Society of 

 Antiquaries of Ireland. 



In preparing my paper I have put together a plain narrative of 

 the principal events of history, which will serve as links to 

 connect the Ulster of to-day with the remote past. It has been 

 assumed that the audience will be made up of two classes — the 

 very learned, and, it may be said without offence, the very 

 ignorant. The ignorance which I impute to a section of the 

 audience is, of course, only in one department of knowledge. 

 In the excellent schools of Belfast and its flourishing college 

 every branch of science and literature is taught, but no provision 

 is made for teaching the youth of Ulster the past history of 

 their famous province. In spite of this deficiency in the scho- 

 lastic and college curriculum, there has always been a goodly 

 number of cultured, and it may be added, patriotic persons 

 in Belfast, who are not content to remain in the state of 

 ignorance to which their education has doomed them. The 

 existence of this intellectual inner circle is shown by the splendid 

 collection of books on Irish history which has been brought 

 together gradually and with discrimination during a period of 

 over a century in our local library. The reference is not, of 

 course, to the uncatalogued collection in the Royal Avenue 

 establishment, but to that in the Linenhall Library. There is 

 in any case no excuse for any intelligent person remaining 

 contentedly ignorant on this important subject, and I shall 



