In July 1690, William, Prince of Orange, the recently crowned King of England defeated the man he had recently deposed, James II, near the Boyne river in Ireland. The repercussions of that battle resonate through history even to the present. Why does this battle, which was not the final set-piece of William's quest to oust James from Ireland, still provoke such bitter division in Northern Ireland today?
The Background
In 1685, James II of England (James VII of Scotland) had inherited the thrones of England and Scotland on the death of his elder brother, Charles II. His Catholicism caused great concern amongst the establishment, especially when his desire for full emancipation of Catholics became apparent. Tolerance of James's religious convictions in parliamentary circles was stretched to breaking point by the birth of his son, James, in 1688. The thought of a Catholic heir to the throne, building on James's pro-Catholic reforms, was too much for the establishment to bear (Ashley, 2002).
In June 1688, seven peers wrote to the Protestant William of Orange, the husband of James's Protestant daughter, Mary, requesting assistance. In November 1688, William landed an army at Brixham in Devon and proceeded to advance rapidly on London. Following the defection of John Churchill and other key generals, together with James's other daughter, Anne, James's days as King were numbered. He fled to France and William was crowned William III of England, jointly with his wife (Mary II) on February 13, 1689. They assumed the throne of Scotland at the same time.
The Battle
James had attempted to establish a power base in Ireland following his flight from England. This situation was intolerable to William. Not only did the spectre of re-invasion by James haunt him but his standing amongst Protestant supporters on the continent had to be maintained.
The battle itself was fought a few miles west of Drogheda on the River Boyne. William had freshly reinforced the army commanded by the aging Duke of Schomberg with fifteen thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand cavalry, giving him a total of around thirty-five thousand men. Opposing him was James, with an army of around thirty-five thousand plus five to six thousand French volunteers provided by William's bitter rival, Louis XIV of France.
James had been advised by the French not to engage William's force directly but James pressed ahead and confronted William's army at the Boyne. It is generally recognised that James mistakenly believed an assault from the west by William's cavalry to be the main attack and committed his men to defend it. However, this proved to be a decisive error as it left the field open for the main assault elsewhere on the line. Even though the Irish, whose foot-soldiers largely consisted of peasants pressed into service, fought bravely, the superior training, discipline and sheer weight of numbers of William's army prevailed.
The Aftermath
The conquest of Ireland was not completed for another year until William's decisive victory at the Battle of Aughrim in July 1691, followed by the capture of Limerick later that year. Over the intervening three hundred years or so, the fortunes of both Catholic and Protestant in Ulster have ebbed and flowed. The fact that this tide has often overflowed into violence is well known.
Significance Today
Battles have always provided significant anniversaries, supplying a focal point for nationalistic or sectarian pride. For example, the banners proclaiming Scotland's victory over the English army of Edward II at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 are still brandished today whenever England and Scotland meet on the football pitch. By the same token, the Cinco de Mayo celebrations in Mexico, commemorating an important victory by the Mexicans over a French army at Puebla in 1862, continue today as a symbol of Mexican pride.
Therefore it is not surprising that the Battle of the Boyne continues to be a source of pride in the Loyalist community in Northern Ireland. However, where it perhaps differs from the commemorations of the aforementioned battles is the controversy surrounding the celebrations. The marching of uniformed men through the streets of Northern Ireland which accompanies the anniversary engenders strong reactions in both communities.
At the time of writing, in spite of the progress made in the peace process in Ulster, the celebrations, which take the form of marches and a public holiday on July 12th, are still a cause of division between Catholics and Protestants. Some of these Protestant marches proceed through what has become territory predominately occupied by Catholic families. As a consequence, the battle's commemoration is very significant to the people of Northern Ireland today, on both sides of the sectarian divide. Protestants see it as a pivotal point in their history: a great victory over a renegade king and his followers. Catholics see the Protestants' continued celebration of the battle as a constant provocation and reminder of a humiliating defeat.
For these reasons, the battle does continue to exert a material influence on the lives of the general population. To both Loyalists and Nationalists, the annual processions which commemorate the battle raise issues of freedom, pride and communal belonging. Loyalists insist that it is their right as citizens of the United Kingdom to walk 'the Queen's Highway' and Nationalists respond that the marches amount to an invasion of their territory and a deliberate provocation.
The strong sense of identity within each community which the battle and its aftermath helped to engender, ensures that, for the foreseeable future, despite the ongoing process of reconciliation in Northern Ireland, the differences on this issue remain intractable.
Sources
- Ashley, M. 2002.British Kings & Queens London: Constable and Robinson Ltd.
- Brown, D.. "How the battle of the Boyne earned its place in history" Guardian, July 12, 2000.
- Patterson, H. 2006. Ireland since 1939: The persistence of conflict. Dublin: Penguin.
- Vallance, E. 2006. The glorious revolution 1688: Britain's fight for liberty London: Little, Brown.
Kevin Hughes - Kevin Hughes is a British writer with a lifelong interest in history and linguistics. After working for a publishing company for ...
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