Future Events:
We look forward to organizing a series of inclusive activities showcasing our Patriots and battles that occurred in Maine. Watch this space for future events and follow us on Facebook at:
Past Events:
July 23-25, 2026
“Ulster-Scots Women Making American History 1776”
Dr. Julie Potter-Dunlop, current MUSP President, and Rebecca J. Graham, former MUSP President, were the featured speakers during a two-day conference in Tyrone, Northern Ireland, July 24-25th sponsored by Evolve Northern Ireland and Ulster-Scots Community Network:
Julie and Rebecca represent MUSP and shared not only the stories of these pioneer women but their participation in the War for Independence in 1776. Artifacts unearthed at MUSP archaeological dig sites were discussed, bringing their story to life through acts of boycotting and beautifying their homes.
This international conference explored the contribution and legacy of Ulster-Scots women in the shaping of early American society during the Revolutionary era.
The fierce Ulster-Scots pioneer women on Flying Point, North Yarmouth (now Freeport), Maine in the mid-18th century are still making history! In an effort to recognize their contribution to the American Revolution, these women were recognized, regarded, and acknowledged for establishing and maintaining their homesteads, livelihoods, and local community through challenging, and often harsh, circumstances; all with grace and practicing amazing self-discipline.
As matriarchs of their respective families, they established the Lower Flying Point community on their own. This community of close-knit Ulster-Scots emigrant women, and their male counterparts, ventured to Ancient North Yarmouth from the Ulster Plantation in the mid-1700s and set up the neighborhood and network of farms by acquiring land of their own and building a robust self-sustaining enterprise of farming, fishing, shipbuilding, timbering, and trade. While they were initially considered colonial subjects, they evolved into a microcosm of independent agents. A place of their own and on their own terms.
October 18, 2025
America from the Ashes: Revolution and the Burning of Falmouth
The public was invited to step into the fire that forged a nation. Exactly 250 years ago on October 18, 1775, the British Navy bombarded the town of Falmouth—now Portland—setting it ablaze and igniting revolutionary fervor across the colonies. Folks had the opportunity to experience a Portland family-friendly trail that connects past and present of a turning point in American history.
The day featured programs, activities, and exhibits from seven cultural and historic venues: First Parish Church, Greater Portland Landmarks, Maine Historical Society, Maine Ulster-Scots Project, Osher Map Library, Spirits Alive at Eastern Cemetery, and Tate House Museum.
Visitors on the historic trail had the opportunity to engage with people, places, and perspectives that shaped Maine’s revolutionary journey. Participants of all ages enjoyed hands-on activities, walking tours, historic house tours, and interactive displays that connect past and present.
The Maine Ulster-Scots Project hosted an exhibit at the Mean House as part of this “America from the Ashes” program.
We thank all the programs participating organizations that conducted activities throughout the city especially the Tate House Museum for providing the Means House for our exhibits. We thank MUSP members Becky M. & daughter Beth, Julie P.D., Orrin S., Mary D, and Dave M. for hosting and participating in a day of discovery, remembrance, and community as Portland commemorated the fire that helped fuel the revolution.
September 20, 2025
The Tall Ship Lynx—a replica of an 1812 privateer schooner from Nantucket- sailed into Casco Bay on September 20, 2025 to reenact one of the most significant events in Portland's past: the burning of Falmouth by the British 250 years ago.
Maine Ulster-Scots Project had a presence on the pier and the opportunity to chat with many of the folks that came down to watch the “bombardment”. We thank Julie Lawrence and Dave McCausland for manning our booth and we thank Holly Hurd and the Tate House Museum for organizing the event.
April 26, 2025
The Maine Ulster-Scots Project, in partnership with the North Yarmouth Historical Society and the Pejepscot History Center began celebrations of the 250th anniversary of American independence with a program recognizing those Ulster-Scots (“Scotch-Irish”) emigrants to the Maine frontier and to the North Yarmouth area in particular who participated in the struggle for independence.
The LECTURE portion of the event featured surveyor, author, and Maine Ulster-Scots Project director, John Mann, who gave us the background of the migration of the Scots and Ulster-Scots to the coast of Maine in the early to mid 1700’s and the engagement of these families in the American Revolution including the Armstrongs, Thomas Means (the 2nd), and other neighbors in the Yarmouth and Freeport area.
The RECEPTION and social hour included exhibits of period-specific archived town letters, petitions, and Resolves, as well as other relevant artifacts from the period, and a roster of Ulster-Scots patriots of the North Yarmouth area. Period refreshments were enjoyed by all.
Our thanks to event co-sponsors the North Yarmouth Historical Society and the Pejepscot History Center and to John Mann for another delightful and informative lecture.
Congratulations to MUSP Sestercentennial Chairmen Julie Potter-Dunlop and NYHS President, - Katie Murphy, and volunteers for a fantastic day enjoyed by over 75 attendees. With the traditional cheer of 1775, we thank you by saying: HUZZAH, HUZZAH, HUZZAH
A 250th Anniversary reflection on local “Scotch-Irish” participation in the American Revolutionary War.
John Mann gave a talk on the life and times of three generations of the Means family and their kin. From the contested borderlands between England and Scotland to the disputed Eastern Frontier of America, they journeyed in search of a home where family, faith, and freedom could ensure economic rewards and religious tolerance, a home unhindered by the meddling of distant political power centers, a home secured by land ownership and extended family ties. A journey that would ultimately lead them to participate on the battlefields of the American Revolutionary War...a revolution which one Hessian soldier described as nothing more than “…a ‘Scotch Irish’ Presbyterian rebellion.”
April 18, 2025
The Maine Ulster-Scots Project in collaboration with the Tate House Museum and the Stroudwater Neighborhood Association presented: “Birth of the American Revolution” a commemoration of the events of 1775 that marked the beginning of the American Revolution.
The program featured the hanging of two lit lanterns on the flagpole at the Means House to remember the two lanterns placed in the belfry of the Old North Church as a signal that the British were moving to Lexington-Concord by sea (the Charles River).
The Stroudwater location was a fitting place to muster, as many men, including our Scotch-Irish forefathers from the coast of Maine marched by this very spot in front of the Tate house on their way south via the Old Boston Post Road.
The program included a colonial-dressed portrayal of a member of the Tate family, youngest son Robert Tate, who trained as a minuteman of Portland (then Falmouth) and was called up at the Lexington alarm. The program also featured a reading of the Longfellow poem “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,” and Dave McCausland, representing MUSP, gave a brief account of James Means and fellow Ulster-Scots who served in the American Revolution.