La Historia De Irlanda

The Battle of Boyne is considered to be a turning point in regards to Irish history, even though it did not result in a victory. As stated by Peter Barresford Ellis in The Boyne Water, no other battle in history has created the effect that the battle of the Boyne has and yet, in terms of war itself, it was not of great military significance. King James VII of Scotland and James II of England and Ireland had an army of supporters that was recognized as the Jacobites. William of Orange also had his own army of supporters called the Williamites. Both Jacob and William acted as commanders to their personal armies to what would become a rivalry that would last decades.

Like most of the conflicts that subsequently took place in Ireland, this one had to do with religion, the constant rivalry between Protestants and Catholics. When James II took the throne in 1685, he began to implement measures that would be beneficial to Catholics living in Ireland (Barlett, 134). This religious outbreak in protestant Ireland was not well received, and the majority of the Protestant elite could only comfort themselves with the fact that King James II was not going to live forever. This was because the successor to throne after King James II was his daughter Mary, who was protestant, and who happened to be married to William of Orange who was considered a protestant hero.

In 1688 James’s wife Mary of Modena had a son (Barlett, 134). This worried the protestant public in Britain. The main issue Protestants saw with king James having a son was that, now, King James would have a Catholic dynasty. This meant that there would be great uncertainties to Protestants in England and Ireland. It would directly affect their future since they were counting on King James daughter, Protestant Mary wife of William of Orange, to take up the throne whenever King James died. Later in November 1688 William of Orange was invited to attack England with the purpose of an eventual conquest (Barlett, 134). There was a massive amount of enthusiasm for this revolutionary change by the protestant force in Ireland, and they began denying to join forces that required being loyal to James II. Irish, English and French Catholics aided James II, meanwhile William of Orange had an English and Dutch army composed of soldiers from both Deutschland and England. This powerful army in favor of William of Orange caught James II somewhat out of guard in the battle, which led to his defeat, and eventually his exile to France in December 1688. This was the beginning of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which designed the collapse of the James II regime.

Subsequently, James II had to overcome a series of events. “James II called a parliament in Dublin in 1689. This enacted legislation abolishing all religious discrimination and passed Acts 13 and 15, which declared that all religions should be equal under the law. It also declared that priest and ministers should be supported by their own congregations; no tithes were to be levied upon any person for the support of a church to which he did not belong. Such legislation was deemed essential by James II’s secretary of state for Ireland. ” (Ellis, 124-125). When the Bill of Rights was ratified by the English parliament in 1689, it provided limits to the crown and parliament. Most importantly, though, it renovated the rights of Protestants to have arms in their favor within the rule of law. This resulted in the conviction of James II due to the fact that he disarmed Protestants, but allowed Catholics to be armed even though it was disobedient to the law (Gilbert, 69). It has not been stated that the main reason of the approval of the Bill of Rights in 1689 was mainly to ensure the political supremacy of Protestants. However, it surely did provide the Protestant elite with omnipotence among the Catholic population once again.

Later in 1689 the Irish population was terrified when the Williamite army arrived to Ireland, and was later joined by Danish mercenaries (Barlett, 135). This kept the catholic population in Ireland frightened for the winter period, while the Williamite army and the Danish Vikings were in Ireland waiting for James II arrival. Vikings had a terrible reputation through Europe since they were seen as an armed force that destroyed anyone or anything that came in their way without any remorse. When William of Orange himself arrived to Ireland in June 1690, it was evident that matters would come to a conclusion after all. Finally, on July 1690, both William and James joined their respective forces at the Boyne (Childs, 215).

On June 30th 1690 the Jacobites and Williamites where getting ready to meet at the Boyne. There was clear evidence that the Jacobite force wanted to retire from the battle since a fugitive informed the Williamites that they had struck their tents. This led William to expect only a thin encounter on the morning. Later that night, James got a report that the Williamites were heading their way, which led James to countermand the withdrawal orders so that his army would meet the developing threat. This change of plans was rewarding for the Williamite force, since it meant that the Jacobites would be confused with their last minute adjustments (Childs, 216-217). Clearly, this change of plans was setting up the Jacobites for failure. Their plans suddenly became unclear, making their situation and position at the Battle of the Boyne aggravated when it came to the odds in favor of a triumph.

The battle itself took place on July 1st 1690 on the Boyne near Drogheda, a town placed near the Boyne River. William III led the Williamite government army, meaning that it consisted in 35,000 English, Dutch, French, and Irish Protestants. James II commanded the Jacobite army which consisted of 23,000 Irish Catholics and some of the liable members of the French army. Undoubtedly, the Williamite force had advantage in terms of quantity and support from the government. “Jacobite hopes now rested on the Cavalry” (Childs, 219).

Evidently, the Jacobites went through many casualties that did not result in their favor. They reached a critical point where they had a lack of commander, this led to chaos of slashing swords and indiscriminate firing in between forces. These great amount of uncertainties that the Jacobites faced through the Battle of the Boyne helped King William and his army to get closer to his objective of gaining victory over the Catholic force and securing his position as a king. That same day in the afternoon, the Jacobite army was in the process of withdrawal,

...