'Curl’s monograph... should be essential reading for anyone wishing to comprehend Northern Ireland today... He discusses the “survey and analysis” stages, when the Government saw the plantation as a means of transforming “the most rude and unreformed part of Ireland and the seat and nest of the last great rebellion” into a law-abiding land and a source of revenue, while also relieving what was considered over-population in London. He reveals lucidly the provision of the Plan itself, both physical and financial..., discusses the role of the Company’s servants and surveyors, and includes many original drawings with the wealth of photographs which he has taken for the study. This... publication disseminates knowledge, interprets our heritage, and shows where and how illiterate alterations are damaging that heritage ... The book is extremely good value... It is a positive antidote to the all too frequent negative or carping criticism which emanates from some civic societies.'

…an able little book admirably condensing Ulster history yet retaining sufficient detail to provide a readable and absorbing text...

'In the two Companies selected by Curl for study the developments resulted in some works of architectural distinction of the neoclassical type, especially in the work of W. J. Booth and Jesse Gibson at Moneymore and Draperstown... and in that of Richard Suter at Ballykelly ... These monographs are so informative that they prompt the hope that the whole story of the participation of London Companies in the development of urban settlements in Ulster will be told...'

'The bibliography testifies to the author’s depth and breadth of reading... this book is valuable in introducing the subject of the London City Companies’ involvement in Ireland or, for those who have read the author’s work on the Drapers’ Company in Ulster, extending knowledge of it. No praise can be too great for the U.A.H.S. which has continued to produce admirable... monographs ...'