MIGRATION

5 The three kingdoms: England, Ireland and Scotland 5.1 Ireland 1688–c1730
Source 2 A satirical playing card
from the time, showing Tyrconnell
arming Irish Catholics.
1 Sources 1 and 2 are both
comments on Tyrconnell
made at the time.
a Do you think each source
supports or attacks
Tyrconnell?
b How can you tell?
c What points are being
made by each source?
FACTFILE
A map of Ireland showing where the main
events in the war happened.
Limerick
Aughrim
Derry
Dundalk
Boyne
1688: Ireland as a theatre of a wider war
When James was forced to escape from England after William’s invasion in 1688
he was pressed by the French king, Louis XIV, to return and win back the ‘three
kingdoms’ (Ireland, Scotland and England) by military force. Most Irish Catholics
were JACOBITES (supporters of James) and Tyrconnell, the lord deputy of Ireland,
formed a Jacobite army. James landed in Ireland in March 1689 with 6,000 French
troops and held a parliament in Dublin. This passed a law giving confiscated land
back to the former Catholic owners and declared that the English parliament had
no right to make laws governing Ireland.
James had the backing of King Louis as well as wide support in Ireland. In
William’s eyes, therefore, battling the Jacobites was not only about who ruled
England; it was also part of the wider European war he was committed to, the
War of the Grand Alliance or NINE YEARS’ WAR. Although his priority was fighting
France, William felt forced to face James in Ireland. So when the Protestant
residents of Derry were surrounded by Jacobite forces in April, William sent
warships and troops with the aim of breaking the siege. Over the next two and a
half years, two international armies would face each other.
How disastrous was the
‘shipwreck’?
The war of 1689–91
In the first half of 1689 the war went
the Jacobites’ way. Their army under
Tyrconnell swept north, seizing back
land from Protestant plantation owners
and besieging the city of Derry. But
on 28 July William’s ships broke the
siege from the River Foyle and freed
the Protestant inhabitants. In the
following weeks, some of
the Williamite army landed
near Belfast and marched towards Dundalk, where they camped for the
Belfast
Dublin
winter on low, wet ground. Disease struck and killed over 5,500 men,
one-third of William’s army.
The two sides met at the Battle of the Boyne on 1 July 1690. There was
no clear winner in a confused encounter, but James lost heart and left
Ireland. Demoralised and with many soldiers deserting, the Jacobites
retreated from Dublin and William entered in triumph. Desoute this,
the war dragged on for another year and a half.
After months of battles and sieges, the two sides met in at Aughrim
on 12 July 1691. This was the final decisive battle of the war. Seven
thousand were killed on both sides but it was a clear victory for
William. The contemporary Gaelic poet Séamas Dall Mac Cuarta
wrote of ‘Aughrim of the slaughter where they are to be found, their
damp bones lying uncoffined’. Although the war continued for a
while, it was clear that the Jacobites had lost. Irish historians call these
three years ‘the shipwreck’.
This war was not a simple conflict between Catholics and Protestants.
There were some Irish Protestants who supported the Jacobites because
they believed William had no legal right to be king, while many of
those fighting on William’s side were European Catholics. He even
had the support of the pope, head of the Catholic Church. Many
who joined the Jacobite cause were not great lovers of James – his
61mm x 62mm
Uncorrected proof
Source 3 The Siege of Londonderry
by Dutch artist Romeyne de
Hooghe, showing several different
events. In the distance is William’s
fleet.
Source 4 A silver medal
commemorating the Battle of the
Boyne, by Jan Luder. The words in
Latin say: ‘He arrived and removed
them. Liberator of Ireland 1689.’
Source 5 James’s words to his
advisers after the Battle of the
Boyne, criticising his own Irish
soldiers (his words have been
translated into modern English),
1690.
When the Irish soldiers faced the
challenge of battle they fled from
the field like cowards, allowing the
enemy to seize our provisions. They
could not be persuaded to come
back and fight even though our
losses were only small. From now
on I have decided never to lead an
Irish army. I now resolve to look
after myself, and so, gentlemen,
must you.
grandfather, James I, had been one of the monarchs who started the
Protestant settlements – but they saw it as a way to fight for Ireland against
English domination.
Four of the top commanders were foreigners. The Irish who fought and died on
both sides were participants in a great international conflict. Aughrim, one of the
most significant battles in Irish history, was in fact fought by armies under Dutch
and French command!
The outcome
On 3 October 1691, both sides signed the Treaty of Limerick and marked the end
of the war. Irishmen who had fought for James were given three choices: they
could join William’s army, return home or continue following James in the French
army, which would mean leaving Ireland forever.
Fourteen thousand soldiers chose to leave for France in what became known as
‘the flight of the Wild Geese’. The king knew that Catholic GUERRILLA fighters
had inflicted real damage in Williamite areas, so by sending the most committed
fighters to France, he removed the risk of the fighting continuing. Meanwhile,
Jacobite landowners were told they could keep their land if they swore allegiance
to William and Mary.
Many Protestants thought at first that the king had been too generous to the losers.
In fact, harsh measures against Catholics followed. William did not stick to the
promises in the treaty and many Catholic landowners who did not swear the oath
quickly enough had their land taken away.
Irish Catholics had lost their army, their land and their political power. They
would now be totally excluded from government for nearly 200 years. What
the historian R. F. Foster calls ‘the last stand of Catholic Ireland’ had failed.
Ireland was now quite clearly a British colony, and English attitudes to the Irish
reflected this.
Source 6 An extract from the prologue to ‘The Prophetess’ by English poet John
Dryden, 1690.
Each bring his love, a bogland captive home,
Such proper pages, will long trains become;
With copper collars, and with brawny backs,
Quite to put down the fashion of our Blacks.
2 In his poem (Source 6), Dryden is ‘jokingly’ suggesting that English soldiers may
come home with Irish prisoners. How does he describe them and who does he
compare them to?
3 Compare Dryden’s attitude to the Irish with the view expressed by James in
Source 5. How similar or different are they?
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