The Battle of the Boyne was
described as ‘a family squabble between a Protestant Dutchman fighting a Catholic
Scotsman in Ireland for the possession of the English Crown with the influence and
finances of the Pope[1]
in Rome supporting the Protestant William’. William’s force of 36,000 was made
up of Englishmen, Dutch, German, French, Danish, Finns, Prussians, Swiss and
Irish, while the opposing Jacobite’s were made up Irish, Scottish and French.
However, before the Battle of the
Boyne in July 1690, on Good Friday April 4th that year, King James
II, along with a large force of soldiers and supporters departed Dublin Castle
and headed to Ringsend. He was in the fight of his life as he battled William
of Orange for the British Crown. James II was buoyed by the fact that a number
of French ships had entered Dublin Bay and anchored believing that they had
brought munitions and goods to support his battle.
King James crossed the Dodder over
the new bridge at Ringsend that had only been completed in 1650. He made his
way down Thorncastle Street, with the crowd following the King getting bigger
by the mile. He arrived at the River Liffey edge and spotted a French frigate at
the mouth of the river. The ship moved
up the Liffey passed Poolbeg and anchored just offshore.
From around the Hill of Howth
appeared the Monmouth captained by Sir Cloudsley Shovel. He had commanded the
smaller HMS Monck but transferred to the larger Monmouth when he came into the
bay. The Monmouth was commanded by Captain William Wright, The Monck was a 52-gun
frigate that had been launched in 1659[2],
while the Monmouth was a 66-gun vessel[3].
As captain of the Monck, he had just been into Belfast harbour delivering supplies
to William of Orange’s 20,000 troops who had landed in Belfast in August 1689
under Marshal Hermon von Schomberg. Shovel was making his way back when he
spotted the French frigate in Dublin Bay. The French vessels sixteen guns being
outnumbered by Shovel’s vessel.
Once ashore in Ringsend, the French
reportedly made full use of the Kings Head Tavern in Ringsend before James’s
men moved them out of the village but according to a report written by the
Marquess of Ormonde,
‘The barbarous rudeness
of the French soldiers was now the whole subject of discourse, about sixty, coming
up as guard to the French General's goods, were quartered in Lazy Hill[5]
for three nights, in which time they murdered one or two women and ravished one
or two, and were so insolent that one who quartered two of them gave twelve shillings
to buy his peace those three nights.’
According to a contemporary report,
‘King James went
back much dissatisfied and, it was reported he bellowed, that all Protestants in
Ireland were of Cromwell’s breed and deserved to have their throats cut.’
The French Navy were already
smarting after their loss to their British and Dutch counterparts at the Battle
of Beachy Head in July 1690.
William of Orange landed in
Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland on June 14th, 1690, taking command
of 36,000 men. The vessel he travelled on was captained by Shovel and was
promoted to Rear Admiral for his work, getting command of a new ship, the HMS Royal
William. William of Orange began to march south and the Williamites to battle
the forces of King James on the banks of the River Boyne.
One lasting connection to the
Battle of Ringsend was Marguetitte Ferguiaret who was born In Dublin in 1690
when one of the French sailors married a local Ringsend woman only named as Catherine.
Margueitte died aged 21 back in her father’s birthplace of France.
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