July 1, 1690 – Battle of the Boyne, Largest Military Engagement Ever on Irish Soil

Some of the ongoing battle for control of the English throne between Protestants and Catholics took place in Ireland. The Battle of the Boyne, fought on this day in history, featured supporters of the deposed Catholic King James II pitted against those of the Protestant King William III.

King William III and Queen Mary II, c1690

Supporters of James were known as Jacobites, a name derived from ‘Jacobus’, the Latinized form of ‘James’.

Not all Irish were Jacobites however; there had been a century of colonization in Ireland by English and Scottish Protestants, leaving the country deeply divided along religious and political grounds.

Moreover, James was an ally of the French King Louis XIV, which turned the battle for control of Britain into a multinational conflict.

King James II, c1685

But the hostilities between the Catholics and Protestants in Britain continued, ultimately leading to the resounding defeat of Jacobites in the Battle of Culloden, the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. The British attempted to make sure Catholics “learned their lessons,” with appallingly cruel Irish Penal Code in Ireland and the Highland Clearances in Scotland.