The Ulster Scots, also called Ulster Scots people or, in North America, Scotch-Irish (Scotch-Airisch) or Scots-Irish, are an ethnic group in Ireland who share a common history, culture, and ancestry. Some speak an Ulster Scots dialect of the Scots language, a West Germanic language. As an ethnicity, they descend largely from Scottish and English settlers who moved to the north of Ireland, during the 17th century.
Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States, was the first of Scots-Irish extraction.
Ulster Scots or Ulster-Scots, also known as Ulster Scotch and Ullans, is the dialect of Scots spoken in parts of Ulster in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It is generally considered a dialect or group of dialects of Scots, although groups such as the Ulster-Scots Language Society and Ulster-Scots Academy consider it a language in its own right, and the Ulster-Scots Agency and former Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure have used the term Ulster-Scots language.
A bilingual street sign in Ballyhalbert, County Down
Middle Scots inscription "Godis Providens Is My Inheritans" over the main entrance door leading to the tower in Ballygally Castle
Poetry by Robert Huddlestone (1814–1887) inscribed in paving in Writers' Square, Belfast
A sign for the Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. It shows the Irish translation (middle) and a translation in a form of Ulster Scots (bottom).