Summary: Early Elizabethan Plantations
Key dates:
During the reign of Elizabeth I, in 1571, Sir Thomas Smith was sent to plant the Ards Peninsula as the first step towards settling Ulster. This failed mainly because of the opposition from the Clandeboye O’Neills. Smith then handed over his lands to Walter Devereaux, 1st Earl of Essex.
Essex was then granted almost all of Antrim and the queen herself lent him £10,000 towards this venture. It was still not very successful and the Elizabethans knew very little about Ulster, even their maps were incorrect.
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