Ulster loyalism, Ulster unionism and the Irish State, 1970-85

Abstract

This thesis is the first specialised study into the relationship between Ulster Loyalists, Ulster Unionists and the Irish State during the Northern Ireland conflict. Ulster loyalists are defined as the representatives, political and paramilitary, of Ulster's Protestant working class who cultured a regionalist Ulster identity. Unionists are accepted as those who prioritised an attachment to Britain over the rites of Protestantism.