Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed December 16, 2013).

Frontcover; Contents; List of Illustrations; Acknowledgements; List of Abbreviations; Editorial note; Map showing principal places mentioned in the text and approximate presbytery boundaries (1704); Introduction; 1 Ministers; I. Geographical and social background; II. Education and training; III. Career patterns; IV. Libraries and continued study; V. Status and role; 2 Gentry; I. Numbers and geographical distribution; II. Wealth and ranks; III. Origins, lineage and inheritance; IV. Family life, marriage and education; V. As landlords and 'improvers'

VI. Interests, expenditure and sociabilityVII. Religious life; 3 Merchants and Commerce; I. Origins, setting up in trade and the importance of connexions; II. Trading activities; III. Income and expenditure; IV. Religious life; 4 The Professions; I. The Law; Ia. Social background and training; Ib. Legal practice and income; Ic. Religious life; II. Medicine; IIa. Education and training; IIb. Medical practice, income and status; IIc. Religious life; 5 The Lower Orders; I. Traders and craftsmen; II. Farming and rural Ulster; III. Servants; IV. The poor and poor relief activities.

6 Organisation and Religious PracticeI. Power and authority; II. Belief and practice; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index; Backcover.

By 1700, Presbyterians formed the largest Protestant community in the north of Ireland. This book shows how the Presbyterians formed a highly organised, self-confident community and looks at its various social components. It discusses how Presbyterians were part of the economically dynamic element of Irish society; how they took the lead in the emigration movement to the American colonies; how they maintained links with Scotland and related to other communities; and how, later in the eighteenth century, they formed the backbone of the Republican, separatist movement.

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