James and William

The events which led to the two sieges of Limerick in 1690 and 1691 form an important chapter in the history of Britain and Europe. In many respects these events parallel those which gave rise to the earlier, Cromwellian siege of 1651. On each occasion a conflict in England between king and parliament spilled over into Ireland, and each time the Catholic population of Ireland took the side of the king in the hope that a victory for the monarchy would bring about significant religious and political concessions.

In 1685 James II succeeded his brother Charles to the throne of England. Being an avowed Catholic in a predominantly Protestant country, it was only a matter of time before the strong-willed James fell out with his parliament. In 1687 James's wife gave birth to a son, thus seeming to guarantee the continuity of the Catholic house of Stuart. Parliament's reaction was to invite James's daughter Mary, who was a Protestant, and her husband, William of Orange, to take over the throne.

After some hesitation they accepted, and duly landed in the south of England in November 1688. James had determined to fight the usurpers, but with his support melting away, he realised that resistance would be doomed to failure and fled to France where he sought the assistance of his cousin, Louis XIV. The French king was a long-standing enemy of William's and was only too glad to help James in his future efforts to win back his throne.

James's best hope of achieving this lay in Ireland where he still commanded the loyalty of the army and the vast majority of the population. He decided therefore to use Ireland as a springboard from which to launch an eventual invasion of mainland Britain.

James landed at Kinsale, County Cork, in March 1689 with a view to executing this plan. First, however, he had to secure his base, and i particular this meant subduing the protestant minority in the north of the country, who had declared themselves for William and taken up arms in his cause. James was enthusiastically received in Dublin, where from May to July he presided over a meeting of the Irish parliament. Meanwhile the Irish army, under the Earl of Tyrconnell , had succeeded in driving the protestant forces in the north into heir two strongholds of Enniskillen and Londonderry. However, a three-month siege of Londonderry failed to break the resistance of the defenders, and when, at the end of July, a relief ship managed to reach the city, Tyrconnell's army was forced to raise the siege. Within a few weeks a Williamite army had arrived from England under the command of Marshal Schomberg, a French Huguenot, and James's last chance of securing the north had disappeared

Both sides now made preparations for the military confrontation which was inevitable. In the north Schomberg strengthened his base, refusing to be drawn into early battle until his forces were sufficiently prepared. James's army was also ill-prepared for battle, the infantry in particular being badly trained and let. However, the Irish position improved considerably with the arrival of a French expeditionary force in March 1690, consisting of 7,000 men under the command of General Lauzun.

On 14 June William himself landed Carrickfergus with a fresh army and quickly made preparations for a march on Dublin. James's forces blocked his path at the Boyne, and there on 1 July the two armies clashed. The issue was not long in doubt: the Irish infantry were quickly driven form the field, and it was only the valour of the cavalry and the covering action of Lauzun's French battalions which prevented a rout. James was one ot the first to quit the field, and, having arrived in Dublin a few hours later, decided his best option was to give up his Irish adventure and return to France.