The leaderless Irish in Ulster were now confined to the poorest areas. The best lands were divided into lots of 1,000 - 2,000 acres and given to 'undertakers' - people who undertook to manage the new estates, build defences and settle them with Protestant families from England and Scotland. The territory between the rivers Foyle and Bann was given to the City of London, and was renamed Londonderry.

Although government forces now controlled most of Ireland their efforts to impose Protestantism as the state religion met with little success outside of Ulster. Even here though most of the new planter families were Protestant in name at least, the vast majority of the Irish people remained steadfastly Catholic