Plantations in 16th and 17th century
Ireland involved the confiscation of land by the
English crown and the
colonisation of this land with settlers from the island of
Great Britain. They followed smaller-scale immigration to Ireland as far back as the 12th century, which had resulted in a distinct ethnicity in Ireland known as the
Old English. Unofficial plantations carried out privately by landlords also took place such as that of Antrim and Down.