History Glossary

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Ulster Day
the name given to 28th September 1912, when those opposed to the Third Home Rule Bill in Ulster signed the Solemn League and Covenant pledging themselves to use ‘all means’ to prevent the setting up of a parliament in Dublin. A total of 471,414 men and women signed.

Ulster Division
formed from the UVF in 1914 as a division of the British Army and titled the 36th (Ulster) Division. After training in Co. Donegal and Co. Down the division left Belfast in May 1915. The division suffered around 5,500 casualties during the first two days of the Battle of the Somme.

Unionism
the movement to keep Ireland (and later Northern Ireland) in the United Kingdom. It emerged in the 1840s in opposition to Daniel O’Connell. Nearly all unionists were Protestants and the movement was therefore strongest in Ulster. The Conservatives in Britain called themselves ‘Unionists’ between 1886 and 1922 because they were also opposed to Home Rule.

UVF
the Ulster Volunteer Force, formed in January 1913 and limited to 100,000 men who had signed the Covenant. The Larne gunrunning of 1914 ensured that it was well-armed. For a time it seemed the force would fight the British Army but in August 1914 most members joined the 36th Ulster Division. The UVF revived for a few months only in 1920. The present-day UVF was a different organisation set up in 1966.