Williamite war in Ireland

For the context of this war see Jacobitism and Glorious Revolution.

War Breaks Out - Campaign in Ulster

James' Lord Deputy, Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell took action to ensure that all strong points in Ireland were held by garrisons of the newly recruited Irish Catholic army. The northern province of Ulster, which had the heaviest concentration of English and Scottish settlers, was the only part of Ireland where Talbot encountered significant resistance.

Related Topics:
Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell - Ulster

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By November 1688, only the walled city of Londonderry had a Protestant garrison. An army of around 1,200 men, mostly "Redshanks" (Highlanders), under Alexander Macdonnell, 3rd Earl of Antrim, was slowly organised (they set out on the week William of Orange landed in England). When they arrived on December 7th 1688 the gates were closed against them and the Siege of Londonderry began. While the Jacobites appeared to have great advantages in terms of numbers in Ireland, in fact, the troops raised by Tyrconnell were mainly hastily conscripted peasant bands, most of them very badly armed and trained.

Related Topics:
1688 - Londonderry - Highlanders - Alexander Macdonnell, 3rd Earl of Antrim - Siege of Londonderry

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When James was deposed and fled to France, King Louis XIV of France (already at war with William of Orange) gave him support to regain his crown. On March 12th 1689 James landed in Kinsale, Ireland, with 6,000 French soldiers. He took Dublin and with a Jacobite army of Catholics, Protestant Royalists and French marched north, joining the Siege of Londonderry on April 18th 1689. James had found himself leading a predominantly Catholic nationalist movement, and on 7th May he reluctantly agreed to the Irish Parliament's demand for an Act declaring that the Parliament of England had no right to pass laws for Ireland. He also agreed, again reluctantly, to restore Irish Catholics to the lands confiscated from their families after the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. British warships arrived off Londonderry on June 11th, but refused to risk shore guns until, ordered by Marshal Frederic Schomberg, they broke through and relieved the siege on July 28th 1689.

Related Topics:
France - Louis XIV of France - War - 1689 - Kinsale - Dublin - Cromwellian conquest of Ireland - Londonderry

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In nearby Eniskillen, armed Williamite civilians drawn from the local Protestant population organised a formidable irregular military force. Operating with Eniskillen as a base, they carried out raids against the Jacobite forces in Connacht and Ulster. A poorly trained Jacobite army which advanced on them from Dublin on July 28th 1689 was defeated at the battle of Newtownbutler, many of the Jacobite's troops fled as the first shots were fired and up to 1500 of them were hacked down or drowned when pursued by the Williamite cavalry. Soon afterwards most of Ulster was cleared of Jacobites.

Related Topics:
Connacht - Ulster - Dublin - Battle of Newtownbutler - Jacobites

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