Bonment.com

After King James II was deposed he fled to France, King Louis XIV of France granted him money and troops to aid him in regaining his throne. On 12 March 1689 James landed at Kinsale, his main aim in Ireland was as a springboard to regaining the throne, the Irish in turn saw in James a way of altering the Cromwellian land settlements and securing the position of the Catholic Church. The conflict commenced with the armed resistance of the Ulster colonists in Enniskillen and more predominately in Derry where they held out, dealing a fatal blow to James as the way was clear for a Williamite landing under Marshal Schomberg. After capturing Carrickfergus, Schomberg’s forces marched unopposed to Dundalk. James’ viceroy Tyrconnell was in command of the main Jacobite army, blocked further progress south but did not attack, the two armies entered a stalemate that lasted throughout the winter of 1689. Impatient with Schomberg’s lack of progress, William arrived in Ireland in June of 1690. The two kings met at the River Boyne where James sat with his French and Irish troops on the southern bank. William routed the Jacobite army although militarily it was not a decisive victory as the Irish losses were small but it had a huge psychological impact, the Jacobites fled to the Shannon and the eastern part of the country fell into William’s hands. William presumed that the war was over and demanded an unconditional surrender, Tyrconnell and the French took much the same view. However Patrick Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan had other ideas, he inspired the defence of Limerick and aided it by blowing up William’s siege train at Ballyneety. Tyrconnell and the French troops departed for France. Sarsfield remained in effective control until the following year. In 1691, the Williamites won two decisive battles at Athlone and Aughrim under the Dutch general Ginkel. Limerick was now the last Jacobite holding of importance, Sarsfield realised that it was useless to go on and sued for peace, the Treaty of Limerick was signed in October 1691. It was agreed that the Irish soldiers who wanted to fight in France would be granted liberty to do so, some 14,000 accepted this option becoming the forerunners of the ‘wild geese.’ The Williamite victory ensured that James would not regain the throne by military means and it paved the way for the classic age of Protestant Ascendancy.

Russell Shortt is a travel consultant with Exploring Ireland, the leading specialists in customised, private escorted tours, escorted coach tours and independent self drive tours of Ireland. Article source: http://www.bonment.com