Limerick City: The Williamite War

The English have done their fair share to screw over the Irish, but here is Limerick’s most notorious example.  James II became King of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1685, but was immediately unpopular mostly due to the fact that he was a Roman Catholic, and not Anglican Protestant like most of England (and most importantly, Parliament) was at the time.  However, he was very popular in Ireland, which was mostly Catholic, and proceeded to give Catholics freedoms that they haven’t experienced since before the English Reformation (aka: when Henry VIII didn’t like his wife anymore and wanted to behead her...I mean, divorce her) over a hundred years prior.

Finally in 1688, Parliament invited James’ Dutch son-in-law, William of Orange, to bring over an army and get rid of the Catholic king.  James fled to the protection of his cousin, Louis XIV of France, while William of Orange was crowned and became William III of England.  However, James (right) and Louis (left) began scheming about how to get the crown back:

James decided to go to Ireland, where he was still popular, and regain his crown there.  So, with money and troops courtesy of Louis, he arrived in Dublin in 1689 and was well received with a parade and everything.  William got a little grumpy about his father-in-law deciding to take over Ireland (wouldn’t we all be?), and he arrived with his army soon thereafter.  The largest battle between the two was the Battle of the Boyne (just north of Dublin) on July 12, 1690, depicted in this lovely painting that I whipped up really quick myself (*cough*):

James was defeated and fled back to France, where he would stay for the remainder of his life, while most of his army marched westward to a lovely city by the name of Limerick.  They took refuge in King John’s Castle, and even set up houses and passageways underneath the castle that visitors can still check out today:

William was having his way with the rest of Ireland however, and by 1691, Limerick was the only major Irish settlement that was not under his control.  That changed following the lengthy Siege of Limerick, in which the entire city was bombarded by William’s army.  The city finally surrendered and the war was ended by the Treaty of Limerick, which was signed on a large rock known as the Treaty Stone (the rock is now perched upon a monument just outside King John’s Castle):

The Treaty of Limerick stated that, while Ireland would be ruled by the Protestant William III, Catholics would be free to own land and freely practice their religion.  Also, soldiers loyal to James (along with their families) would be permitted to leave Ireland; thus 24,000 Irish people migrated to places such as Spain, France, and Austria (where Catholicism was still the dominant religion), an event known as the Flight of the Wild Geese.  Unfortunately for the Catholics who stayed in Ireland, Irish Parliament (which was dominated by English Protestants who settled in Ireland) rejected the terms of the treaty, and Catholic persecution continued in Ireland for another century and a half.  This gave Limerick one of its nicknames: The City of the Broken Treaty.

The war between James II and William III is still relevant today in Northern Ireland, the northeastern section of Ireland that remains under the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom.  Every year on the “Twelfth of July,” Protestants celebrate the Battle of the Boyne by marching through the streets with British flags and Orange banners (because of William of Orange, and thus they are typically called “Orangemen”).  Here's a stock photo of it courtesy of Wikipedia (where all the professional historians go for evidence):

It is a controversial day, because Orangemen typically march through Catholic neighborhoods and taunt them for the loss that “they” suffered over three hundred years ago (they should have tried harder).  These parades often added to the conflict known as the Troubles during the last century (which I’m sure that I’ll cover once I go up and visit Northern Ireland).

I hope you enjoyed this history lesson!  Just be happy I’m not charging you tuition for any of this.