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Siege of Limerick (1691)

 

 
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Siege of Limerick (1691)
 
 
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Limerick
Limerick

Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the county seat of County Limerick in the province of Munster, in the midwest of Republic of Ireland....
 in western Ireland was besieged twice during the Williamite War in Ireland
Williamite war in Ireland

The Williamite War in Ireland, also known as the Jacobite War in Ireland and in Ireland as Cogadh an D? R? or The War of the Two Kings, was the opening conflict following the deposition of King James II of England in 1688 when he attempted to regain the throne of his Three Kingdoms from his daughter Mary II of England who repl...
 (1689-91). The city, held by Jacobite
Jacobitism

Jacobitism was the political movement dedicated to the restoration of the House of Stuart kings to the thrones of Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland....
 forces was able to beat off a Williamite
Williamite

Williamite refers to the followers of King William III of England who deposed King James II of England in the Glorious Revolution. William, the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, replaced James with the support of English British Whig Party, to ensure England's entry into his League of Augsburg against France in the Nine Years War....
 assault in 1690. However, after a second siege in August-October 1691, it surrendered on terms.
he time of the second siege, the military situation had turned against the Jacobites. The main Jacobite army was smashed at the Battle of Aughrim
Battle of Aughrim

The Battle of Aughrim was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the Jacobitism and the forces of William III of England on 12 July 1691, near the village of Aughrim, County Galway in County Galway....
 in July 1691, losing 4,000 men killed, including their commander, the Marquis de St Ruth and thousands more taken prisoner and deserted.






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Limerick
Limerick

Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the county seat of County Limerick in the province of Munster, in the midwest of Republic of Ireland....
 in western Ireland was besieged twice during the Williamite War in Ireland
Williamite war in Ireland

The Williamite War in Ireland, also known as the Jacobite War in Ireland and in Ireland as Cogadh an D? R? or The War of the Two Kings, was the opening conflict following the deposition of King James II of England in 1688 when he attempted to regain the throne of his Three Kingdoms from his daughter Mary II of England who repl...
 (1689-91). The city, held by Jacobite
Jacobitism

Jacobitism was the political movement dedicated to the restoration of the House of Stuart kings to the thrones of Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland....
 forces was able to beat off a Williamite
Williamite

Williamite refers to the followers of King William III of England who deposed King James II of England in the Glorious Revolution. William, the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, replaced James with the support of English British Whig Party, to ensure England's entry into his League of Augsburg against France in the Nine Years War....
 assault in 1690. However, after a second siege in August-October 1691, it surrendered on terms.

The siege

By the time of the second siege, the military situation had turned against the Jacobites. The main Jacobite army was smashed at the Battle of Aughrim
Battle of Aughrim

The Battle of Aughrim was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the Jacobitism and the forces of William III of England on 12 July 1691, near the village of Aughrim, County Galway in County Galway....
 in July 1691, losing 4,000 men killed, including their commander, the Marquis de St Ruth and thousands more taken prisoner and deserted. Galway
Galway

Galway is the fourth largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the only city in the province of Connacht in Republic of Ireland. The city is located on the west coast of Ireland....
 had surrendered in July 1691. The Jacobite survivors retreated to Limerick, but in contrast to the previous year, their morale was very low and they were ready to surrender. On the other hand, the defences of Limerick had been considerably strengthened since 1690. The Williamite general Godert de Ginkell
Godert de Ginkell, 1st Earl of Athlone

Godert de Ginkell, 1st Earl of Athlone, or Godart van Ginkel, and in the Netherlands known as Godard, Baron van Reede was a Dutch general in the service of England....
 surrounded the city and bombarded it, tearing a breach in the walls of English town. A surprise Williamite attack drove the Irish defenders from the earthworks defending Thomond bridge, sending its Irish defenders reeling back towards Limerick. The French defenders of the main gate of the city refused to open it for the fleeing Irish and about 800 of them were cut down or drowned in the river Shannon.

Capitulation and Treaty

After this point, Patrick Sarsfield ousted the French commanders in Limerick and began negotiations to surrender. He and Ginkel concluded a treaty that promised to: respect the civilian population of Limerick, tolerate the Catholic religion in Ireland, guarantee against the confiscation of Catholic-owned land and to allow Sarsfield and the Jacobite army to be transported to France. Limerick surrendered under these terms in October 1691. Sarsfield left Ireland with 10,000 soldiers and 4,000 women and children to enter the French service. This journey has become known as the Flight of the Wild Geese
Flight of the Wild Geese

The Flight of the Wild Geese refers to the departure of an Ireland Jacobitism army under the command of Patrick Sarsfield, 1st Earl of Lucan from Ireland to France, as agreed in the Treaty of Limerick on October 3, 1691, following the end of the Williamite War in Ireland....
. The terms of the Treaty of Limerick
Treaty of Limerick

The Treaty of Limerick ended the Williamite war in Ireland between the Jacobitism and the supporters of William III of Orange. It concluded the siege of Limerick ....
 were subsequently rejected in the Protestant dominated Irish Parliament.

Sources

  • Piers Waudchope, Patrick Sarsfield and the Williamite War, Dublin 1992.
  • J.G. Simms, Jacobite Ireland, London 1969.


External links