Armagh and USA 250 | Every breeze from the west brings news of fair liberty – Ulster and the American Revolution
Lecture
Wednesday, April 15, 2026 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
This lecture is held in the Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich Library & Archive.
Admission is free, with booking essential by e-mailing: admin@armaghrobinsonlibrary.co.uk
This lecture is one of a series of six, Armagh and USA 250, organised by Armagh Robinson Library, Armagh County Museum and Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich Memorial Library & Archive.
Armagh and USA 250 | Every breeze from the west brings news of fair liberty – Ulster and the American Revolution
Wednesday, April 15, 2026 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm at Cardinal O’Fiaich Library and Archive
Every breeze from the west brings news of fair liberty – Ulster and the American Revolution
During the 18th century, up to 200,000 Ulster Presbyterians emigrated to what would become the United States, fleeing religious and economic hardships. Many supported the American Revolution, which was widely welcomed by Presbyterians and praised by both the United Irishmen and moderates, despite the constitution allowing slavery. Some migrants helped build democratic institutions, while others moved westward, sometimes becoming slave owners or participating in conflicts with Native Americans. The ideas which propelled the United States to Independence then flowed back across the Atlantic fostering a renewed sense of radicalism in Ulster.
Speaker | John Gray
Belfast born John Gray is the former long-standing librarian of the city’s historic Linen Hall Library. He is Chair of Reclaim the Enlightenment, a charity formed in 2017 to celebrate the town’s progressive era and as a trigger for radical interventions in the present. As a social historian he has been widely published.
Venue
