War of the Two Kings by Dermot Poyntz

Curse of Cromwell: The Siege

“The Catholics of Ireland do undertake a war for the reinthroning their banished king. Why should they do this, since they had been oppressed by the precedent monarch, for whom they did that which no subjects had ever done: they maintained war on their own cost for several years against their common enemy, Oliver Cromwell and other regicides and usurpers, till at last they were totally subdued and deprived of all they had in the world. The sad remembrance of the aforesaid oppression (never was the like since the creation) should make the Irish Catholic nobility to rejoice rather (according to the dictates of flesh and blood) at the misfortunes of an ensuing king of England, especially of the immediate successor and brother of their oppressor. But Catholic religion is one thing, and heresy is another. Wherefore Catholics will still be Catholics, and so the Irish must lay aside all resentments that thwart their allegiance.”

Moccu Press

Nicholas Plunkett – A Light to the Blind

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War of the Two Kings

Back

Book jacket art & design by Lee Grace ISBN: 978-0-9566558-2-0 ISBN 978-0-9566558-2-0

9 780956 655820

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Cover

War of the Two Kings Dermot Poyntz

Lee Grace

Inner Left

7mm spine

The Jacobites

Inner right

Jean-Antoine de Mesmes, Comte d’ Avaux Antoine de Mesmes, Count d’Avaux, was Louis XIV’s ambassador to the Jacobite court at St Germains, and was sent to Ireland as James’ adviser. Diplomacy was the birthright of his family. His immediate forbears had signed many treaties on behalf of France. D’Avaux had been ambassador at The Hague, and therefore knew the Prince of Orange.

James Stuart/James II James was the second son of Charles I. Deeply scarred by his father’s execution he spent his exile in the service of both France and Spain. In 1660 the Stuart monarchy was restored and James returned to England as the Duke of York. James openly acknowledged his conversion to Roman Catholicism. He succeeded to the throne when his brother, Charles II, died.

Conrad de Rosen French officer who came to Ireland with James. Shortly after his arrival James made him a Marshal. De Rosen was Russian. He was considered a good cavalry leader, but no general. De Rosen had a savage nature and an inclination towards ruthless war.

Duke of Tyrconnell Richard Talbot was born around 1622 at Carton in County Kildare. He became a colonel in the French army, joined the Ormond Party in Ireland, and fought against Owen Roe O’Neill. Talbot was one of the few survivors of Cromwell’s sack of Drogheda. He entered the service of the Duke of York (later James II) and returned to England with him at the Restoration. Also known as ‘fighting Dick Talbot’ and ‘lying Dick Talbot’, he was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland by King James in 1686.

Alexandre de Rainier de Droué, Marquis de Boisseleau French officer who was made governor of Cork. Was tasked with drilling Irish recruits. De Boisseleau was governor of Limerick during the siege in 1690, and conducted the engineering operations of the city’s defence.

Antonin Nompar de Caumont, Comte de Lauzun This French courtier and soldier acquired the command of the French forces in Ireland, because he had helped escort James’ wife, Queen Mary Beatrice, to France in 1688, during William of Orange’s invasion of England.

Patrick Sarsfield Patrick Sarsfield came from noble Irish blood on both sides of his family. His mother was the daughter of Rory O’Moore, who helped organise the rebellion of 1641. His paternal lineage stemmed from the Normans. An ancestor, William Sarsfield, Mayor of Dublin, was knighted by Sir Henry Sidney in 1566, for his services against Shane O’Neill. Sarsfield bore a commission in the English Life Guards, and retired with James II to France. He was created Earl of Lucan, Viscount Tully, and Baron of Rosberry by James in 1691.

John Drummond, Earl of Melfort Served as Secretary of State in Scotland under James II from 1684 until 1688. A convert to Roman Catholicism, he fled to France and attended James as Secretary of State in Ireland. He was in conflict with the Duke of Tyrconnell and the French ambassador Count d’Avaux over policy.

Lieutenant General Richard Hamilton Richard Hamilton was the fifth son of George Hamilton of Roscrea. He enlisted in Charles II’s Life Guards regiment, but transferred to a French regiment when Catholics were barred from public and military offices. Hamilton helped persuade Tyrconnell to remain loyal to James, and was placed in command of a small Jacobite army.

The Williamites William III, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of the United Dutch Provinces In response to the French invasion of the United Dutch Provinces in 1672, the existing Dutch government was overthrown and William became Stadtholder, Captain-General, and Admiral for life. William devoted himself to containing France, & built up an antiFrench coalition from amongst Louis XIV’s enemies.

Justin McCarthy, Viscount Mountcashel Mountcashel entered the English army at an early age and attained the rank of Lieutenant-General. However, his military powers were marred by defective sight. In 1688, or early 1689, he was appointed Muster-Master General and Lord Lieutenant of the County of Cork by Tyrconnell.

Friedrich Hermann, Duke of Schomberg Schomberg served in Dutch, Swedish, French, & Portuguese armies. Following the end of the war in Iberia he returned to France, and became a French citizen. When Louis XIV declared Protestantism illegal & revoked the Edict of Nantes, Schomberg took a position in William of Orange’s army along with many other French Calvinist Protestants, known as Huguenots.

7mm spine

War of the Two Kings Script by Dermot Poyntz Artwork by Lee Grace

To my parents Anne & Christopher Poyntz. To the memory of my father David ‘Davy’ Grace.

Published by Moccu Press, 2011 Email: moccupress@yahoo.com Website: www.moccupress.com

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