Latest / The History of Ireland: Rebellion, Empire, and Independence — Fexingo History / The Battle of the Boyne 1690: Two Kings at the River
Transcript
- Lucas: So in our last episode, we covered the Siege of Limerick and the Wild Geese Treaty. But to understand how we got there—why the Jacobites were on the back foot—we need to go back to the battle that set it all in motion. Luna: The Boyne, right? Lucas: Exactly. The Battle of the Boyne, fought on July 1st, 1690—July 12th by the new calendar. It's one of those dates that's carved into Irish and Northern Irish memory, especially on the Twelfth. But the actual history is a lot more nuanced than the parades suggest. Luna: Two kings on Irish soil—that's rare. How did that happen? Lucas: Well, James II had been deposed in England's Glorious Revolution of 1688. William of Orange, his Dutch son-in-law, took the throne. James fled to France, where Louis XIV backed him with troops and money. Ireland was seen as the soft underbelly to restore James, because most of the Irish Catholic population supported him. So in 1689, James landed in Ireland with French support, and by early 1690, he controlled most of the country except the Protestant strongholds in Ulster. Luna: Derry and Enniskillen had held out, right? Lucas: Yes. William landed at Carrickfergus in June 1690 with a large, multinational army. James marched north from Dublin to meet him. The two armies faced each other across the River Boyne, about a mile west of Drogheda. William had about 36,000 men; James about 23,000. The river wasn't deep but it had high banks, so it was a strong defensive position. Luna: And the armies themselves were quite a mix. Lucas: They were. On William's side: Dutch, English, Danish, Huguenot French, and Ulster Protestant regiments. On James's side: Irish infantry, a small French contingent under Lauzun, and a few English Jacobite units. The French actually advised James not to fight—they thought the position was too risky—but James decided to stand his ground. He was convinced he could win. Luna: What was the plan? Lucas: William's strategy was to force a crossing in multiple places. He sent a feint upstream at Rosnaree, while his main army prepared to cross at Oldbridge and Drybridge, closer to Drogheda. The feint worked—James detached units to the west, weakening his centre. The real action began at dawn. William's elite Dutch Blue Guards waded across the Boyne under heavy fire at Oldbridge. Luna: Oldbridge—I've heard of that name from the battle. Lucas: It's a small village, but that crossing became legendary. The Irish Jacobite infantry, many of them raw recruits, put up a tough fight at the riverbank. But they were outnumbered. Meanwhile, William's cavalry crossed at Drybridge and charged the Jacobite flank. The battle turned into a chaotic melee in the fields north of the river. Luna: And Marshal Schomberg was killed there, wasn't he? Lucas: Yes. Frederick Schomberg, William's second-in-command, was a veteran soldier in his seventies. He led a cavalry charge personally at Oldbridge, but his horse stumbled in the muddy ground, and he was surrounded and killed by Irish troopers. His death was a blow, but William remained calm and kept pushing. The Jacobite line eventually gave way and retreated south in good order. Luna: But James fled—that's the big story, isn't it? Lucas: He did. James left the battlefield early, heading to Dublin and then to France. He earned the Irish nickname 'Séamus an Chaca'—James the Shit—for abandoning his army. His departure demoralised his Irish supporters, who felt betrayed. The battle wasn't a total rout—the Jacobite army retreated largely intact—but the psychological damage was enormous. Luna: So the Boyne wasn't really the decisive battle then? Lucas: Not militarily. The decisive battle came a year later at Aughrim, where the Jacobites were crushed. But the Boyne was strategically important: it opened the way to Dublin, and William occupied the capital shortly after. James's flight meant the Jacobite cause lost its figurehead. The Boyne also became the iconic victory for Williamites, celebrated annually on the Twelfth of July. Luna: And it's still a flashpoint today, especially in Northern Ireland. Lucas: Yes. The Orange Order's parades commemorate the Boyne, though symbolically they've come to represent Protestant supremacy. But the actual battle was more complex—both sides had Catholics and Protestants fighting for different reasons. Many Irish Catholics fought for James out of loyalty to the Stuart dynasty, not necessarily to overthrow the Protestant faith. And William's army included Catholic troops from Denmark and other allies. Luna: It's fascinating how a single battle can be remembered so differently. Lucas: Exactly. The Boyne has been mythologised as a clash of civilisations, but in reality it was a messy, bloody engagement in the mud. The river crossing, the death of Schomberg, James's flight—these moments have taken on a life of their own. The Battle of the Boyne is a perfect example of how history gets simplified into symbols. Luna: Speaking of which, I know we've covered a lot of ground today, and honestly, if this episode gave you a clearer picture of what really happened at the Boyne, that's the kind of thing that keeps us going. Lucas: Yeah, we put a lot into these conversations. If you feel like this was worth a coffee, there's a link—buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, but it helps keep the show ad-free. Luna: And it's much appreciated. But anyway, back to the battle—one detail that often gets overlooked is that William himself was nearly killed before the fight even started. Lucas: That's true. While reconnoitring the riverbank on the morning of July 1, a Jacobite cannonball killed two of his guards and wounded his horse. He was unharmed, but it gave him a reputation for courage. He later said, 'The ball that kills me will not have been cast.' That moment is often depicted in paintings—King Billy on his white horse. Luna: That iconic image—the white horse. But it's probably a later romanticization, right? Lucas: Almost certainly. William actually rode a dark horse that day. But the white horse became a symbol of the Protestant cause. The Boyne's legacy is built on such layered memories. The river itself is a quiet, pretty place now—you can walk the fields and hardly imagine the chaos. But the echoes are still there. Luna: It makes you wonder about the ordinary soldiers on both sides. Many of them would have died in that river. Lucas: Around 2,000 men died that day, not a huge number by later standards, but it was brutal combat. The Irish Jacobite units, especially the infantry, fought with determination. One story says that when William's Dutch Guards crossed, the Irish taunted them: 'You'll all be dead before night!' But they held their ground. The aftermath saw the Jacobites retreat in good order, but they left behind their king. The Boyne changed everything for Ireland. Luna: And set the stage for the Penal Laws we discussed earlier. Lucas: Exactly. The Boyne was the beginning of the Protestant Ascendancy that would dominate Ireland for nearly two centuries. It's a stark reminder that battles are not just military events—they shape societies for generations.