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Ireland 1685–1714

The Battle of the Boyne

  • 3 things to know
  • A2 Unit 2

Overview

The two armies and their commanders, the crossing and the course of the battle, and its military and political significance.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Numbers

Give the date of the Battle of the Boyne and explain the confusion over it.

Key term

Why did James II decide to stand at the Boyne?

Key term

What was the flanking move at Rosnaree?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    When and where did William III land in Ireland, and with what army?

    Model answer

    William III landed at Carrickfergus on 14 June 1690 with about thirty-six thousand men, a professional multinational force drawn from the coalition against France and including Dutch, Danish, Huguenot, German, English and Ulster Protestant troops.

  2. 2

    What French help did James II have in 1690?

    Model answer

    Louis XIV sent about six thousand French troops to Ireland under the Count of Lauzun in the spring of 1690, in exchange for an Irish brigade of similar size sent to serve in France under Mountcashel.

  3. 3

    Give the date of the Battle of the Boyne and explain the confusion over it.

    Model answer

    The battle was fought on 1 July 1690 by the calendar then in use in Ireland, which corresponds to 11 July in the modern calendar, and the later commemoration on the twelfth of July arises from that calendar change.

  4. 4

    Why did James II decide to stand at the Boyne?

    Model answer

    The Boyne was the last good defensive line between William and Dublin, and abandoning it would have meant giving up the capital without a fight, which James II could not afford politically.

  5. 5

    What was the flanking move at Rosnaree?

    Model answer

    William sent a large detachment upstream to cross at Rosnaree on the Jacobite left, and James II responded by sending most of his army, including the French infantry, to meet it, which left the main crossing thinly held.

  6. 6

    What happened at Oldbridge?

    Model answer

    William's main force forded the river at Oldbridge under fire, and although Jacobite cavalry counter-attacked repeatedly and held them for a time, weight of numbers carried the crossing.

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