Carrickfergus, historically an epicentre of English administration in Ulster, has a strong but largely overlooked connection with the Flight of the Earls
through the person of Sir Arthur Chichester, one time Governor of Carrickfergus and Lord Deputy of Ireland. Sent to Ireland as a senior military
commander in 1599 after the death of his brother John in the Battle of Carrickfergus, Chichester helped suppress the Ulster rebellion led by the great
Irish chieftain Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone. Following the Battle of Kinsale and the end of the Nine Year’s War, O'Neill, although spared and
allowed to retain his position, eventually realized that he could not maintain his authority under the rule of Chichester, his bitter rival and fled to the
Continent with a number of other Ulster lords in 1607. Chichester immediately confiscated their lands and devised a scheme which cumulated in the
Plantation of Ulster, changing the political and demographic landscape of Ireland forever. It was a clash of cultures that was to reverberate down through
four centuries of Irish history to the present day.

As we pause and reflect on the events of this period of history what lessons are there for our culturally divided community in Northern Ireland today?