Kings in Conflict: The Revolutionary War in Ireland and Its Aftermath, 1689-1750

By W.A. Maguire

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0856404357
• ISBN13: 9780856404351
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Dufour Editions
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.63 lbs.

Customer Reviews

'King's in Conflict' or 'War of the Two Kings'

You've wondered about the roots of all the fighting in Ulster, the gombeen drums and Orangemen? Well, this book will explain why the war of succession in England spilled over to and was fought in Ireland in the late 1600's. Rather than being a dry history, it also discusses much of the intrigue, propaganda, greed and malarky happening at the time.A brief Prelude:By the time of this story, the Plantagenants were out of power. Old Henry VIII, not allowed divorce, essentially told the pope and the catholic church to shove it and started the Church of England. His daughter, 'Bloody' Mary, a catholic, bloodily murdered many protestant people in her quest for religious purity and a 'return to the one true faith'. His other daughter, Elizabeth, as shrewd as her father and also a protestant, succeeded Mary and later planted Ulster, evicting northern Irish people to the bogs. Elizabeth had an eye on the oak forests to provide wood for her ships. Cromwell came along in the mid 1600's, warred on Ireland and paid his army off with Irish land. The Duke of York, later 'James II', a catholic, became King of England on Feb 1685. Of course, the English Whigs and Tories didn't like James II's policies, so they looked back into their genealogies until they found a 'proper' protestant descendant in the person of William of Orange, and invited him over to be king of England in June 1688.The 'fun' really begins when you understand that James II is the father-in-law of William. A classic disfunctional family.December 1688; James had escaped to France. By 1689, the Irish were more than ready to back anyone who would guarantee them the removal of the English yoke. He used the willing Irish and others as his backers, known as 'Jacobites' and met William in battle in Ireland.The Irish army backing James fought valiantly in many battles; Athlone, Limerick, Boyne, etc. until the Treaty of Limerick was signed in 1691. The 'Jacobite' Irish Army followed Patrick Sarsfield in exile to France, to become known to history as the 'Wild Geese'.The book doesn't stop at the Treaty. It also covers the intrigues and wars with France and the Spanish Succession. Yes folks, Some of Europes bloodiest battles are those fought amongst relatives. The reason I'm interested in this history is that my g-g-g-grandfather was one of those Wild Geese.