Treaty of Limerick
Encyclopedia
Williamite war in Ireland
The Williamite War in Ireland—also called the Jacobite War in Ireland, the Williamite-Jacobite War in Ireland and in Irish as Cogadh an Dá Rí —was a conflict between Catholic King James II and Protestant King William of Orange over who would be King of England, Scotland and Ireland...
between the Jacobites
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
and the supporters of William of Orange
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
. It concluded the Siege of Limerick
Siege of Limerick (1691)
Limerick in western Ireland was besieged twice during the Williamite War in Ireland . The city, held by Jacobite forces was able to beat off a Williamite assault in 1690. However, after a second siege in August-October 1691, it surrendered on terms....
. The treaty really consisted of two treaties which were signed on 3 October 1691. Reputedly they were signed on the Treaty Stone, an irregular block of limestone which once served as a mounting block for horses. This stone is now displayed on a pedestal in Limerick city. Because of the treaty, Limerick is sometimes known as the Treaty City.
The Military Articles
These articles dealt with the treatment of the disbanded Jacobite army. Under the treaty, Jacobite soldiers in formed regiments had the option to leave with their arms and flags for FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to continue serving under James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
in the Irish Brigade
Irish Brigade (French)
The Irish Brigade was a brigade in the French army composed of Irish exiles, led by Robert Reid. It was formed in May 1690 when five Jacobite regiments were sent from Ireland to France in return for a larger force of French infantry who were sent to fight in the Williamite war in Ireland...
. Some 14,000 Jacobites chose this option and were marched south to Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
where they embarked on ships for France, many of them accompanied by their wives and children. Individual soldiers wanting to join the French, Spanish or Austrian armies also emigrated in what became 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 Irish Jacobite army under the command of Patrick Sarsfield 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 Jacobite soldiers also had the option of joining the Williamite army. 1,000 soldiers chose this option. The Jacobite soldiers thirdly had the option of returning home which some 2,000 soldiers chose.
This treaty had twenty-nine articles, which were agreed upon between Lieutenant-General Ginkle
Godert de Ginkell, 1st Earl of Athlone
Godert de Ginkell, 1st Earl of Athlone, or in his own country of the Netherlands born Baron Godard van Reede was a Dutch general in the service of England....
, Commander-in-Chief of the English army, and the Lieutenant-Generals D'Usson and de Tessé
Philibert-Emmanuel de Froulay, chevalier de Tessé
Philibert-Emmanuel de Froulay, chevalier de Tessé , was baron d'Ambrières and a French army commander, fighting in the Williamite War in Ireland....
, Commanders-in-Chief of the Irish army. The articles were signed by D'Usson, Le Chevalier de Tesse, Latour Montfort, Patrick Sarsfield (Earl of Lucan), Colonel Nicholas Purcell of Loughmoe
Nicholas Purcell of Loughmoe
Nicholas Purcell, 13th Baron of Loughmoe was the son of James Purcell of Loughmoe and the maternal nephew of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde....
, Mark Talbot, and Piers, Viscount Galmoy
Piers Butler, 3rd Viscount Galmoye
Piers Butler, 3rd Viscount Galmoye, otherwise Viscount Galmoy, was an Anglo-Irish nobleman. He was descended from the 10th Earl of Ormond...
.
The Civil Articles
These articles protected the rights of the defeated Jacobite landed gentryLanded gentry
Landed gentry is a traditional British social class, consisting of land owners who could live entirely off rental income. Often they worked only in an administrative capacity looking after the management of their own lands....
who chose to remain in Ireland, most of whom were Catholics. Their property was not to be confiscated so long as they swore allegiance to William and Mary
William and Mary
The phrase William and Mary usually refers to the coregency over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, of King William III & II and Queen Mary II...
, and Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
noblemen were to be allowed to bear arms. William required peace in Ireland and was allied to the Papacy in 1691 within the League of Augsburg.
This Treaty contained thirteen articles which were agreed upon between the Right Honourable Sir Charles Porter, and Thomas Coningsby, Esq., Lords Justices of Ireland, and his Excellency the Baron de Ginkle, Lieutenant General and Commander-in-Chief of the English army, and the Right Honourable Patrick Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan, Percy Viscount Galmoy, Colonel Nicholas Purcell of Loughmoe, Colonel Nicholas Cusack, Sir Toby Butler, Colonel Dillon, and Colonel John Brown. The treaty was signed by Charles Porter, Thomas Coningsby, and Baron de Ginkle, and witnessed by Scavenmoer, H. Mackay, and T. Talmash.
The civil articles were not honoured by the victorious Williamite government for long, as the Papacy again recognized James II as the lawful king of Ireland from 1693. The few Catholic landowners who took the oath in 1691-93 remained protected, including their descendants. Those who did not were known as "non-jurors
Nonjuring schism
The nonjuring schism was a split in the Church of England in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, over whether William of Orange and his wife Mary could legally be recognised as King and Queen of England....
", and their loyalty to the new regime was automatically suspect. Some managed to have an outlawry specifically reversed, such as the 8th Viscount Dillon
Henry Dillon, 8th Viscount Dillon
Henry Dillon, 8th Viscount Dillon was Lord Lieutenant of Roscommon.He managed to obtain a reversal of the outlawry against his deceased father, Theobald, the 7th Viscount in 1694, and later served as Lord Lieutenant of County Roscommon....
in 1694. Starting in 1695, a series of harsh penal laws
Penal Laws (Ireland)
The term Penal Laws in Ireland were a series of laws imposed under English and later British rule that sought to discriminate against Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters in favour of members of the established Church of Ireland....
were enacted by the Irish parliament to make it difficult for the Irish Catholic gentry who had not taken the oath by 1695 to remain Catholic. The laws were extended for political reasons by the Dublin administration during the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
(1701–14), and reforms did not start until the 1770s.
It is often thought that Limerick was the only treaty between Jacobites and Williamites. A similar treaty had been signed on the surrender of Galway
Galway
Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...
on 22 July 1691, but without the strict loyalty oath required under the Treaty of Limerick. The Galway garrison had been organised by the landed gentry of counties Galway and Mayo, who benefited from their property guarantees in the following century. The Limerick treaty marked the end of the war.
The Williamite Settlement forfeitures
In the following 8 years further confiscations were made from the continuing adherents to the JacobiteJacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
cause, and also further pardons were granted. The Commissioners of Forfeitures reported to the Irish House of Commons
Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...
in December 1699 as follows:
- 3,921 named persons had been outlawed initially, who owned
- 1,060,792 acres
- that produced rents of £211,623 a year, and were worth £2,685,130
Of these,
-
- 491 had been pardoned in accord with the treaties at Galway and Limerick, and 792 otherwise; Some of the remaining 2,638 persons or their families had had property restored.
- Ultimately the total amount received by the Commissioners was: 752,953 acres paying rents of £135,793 p.a., worth £1,699,343. A further £300,000 in chattels and £60,000 of forestry had been seized, along with several hundred individual houses.
See also
- History of LimerickHistory of LimerickThe history of Limerick , stretches back to its establishment by the Vikings as a walled city on King's Island in 812, and its charter in 1197....
- List of treaties
- Sieges of LimerickSieges of LimerickSiege of Limerick may refer to:* Siege of Limerick , English Protestants surrendered to Confederate Catholics* Siege of Limerick , Confederate Catholics and English Royalists surrendered to English Parliamentary forces...
- Battle of the BoyneBattle of the BoyneThe Battle of the Boyne was fought in 1690 between two rival claimants of the English, Scottish and Irish thronesthe Catholic King James and the Protestant King William across the River Boyne near Drogheda on the east coast of Ireland...