The Williamite Wars in Ireland

The comprehensive defeat of the Jacobite Irish in the Williamite conflict, a component within the pan-European Nine Years' War, prevented the exiled James II from regaining his English throne, ended realistic prospects of a Stuart restoration and partially secured the new regime of King William III and Queen Mary that had been created by the Glorious Revolution. The principal events - the siege of Londonderry, the Battles of the Boyne and Augury, and the two sieges and Treaty of Limerick - have subsequently become totems around which opposing constructions of Irish history have been erected. Child argues that the struggle was typical of the late-seventeenth century, principally decided by economic resources and attrition in which the 'small war' comprising patrols, raids, occupation of captured regions by small garrisons, police actions against irregulars and attacks on supply lines was more significant in determining the outcome than the set-piece battles and sieges.

Table of Contents:
Maps Abbreviations Note on dates Note on distances Note on spelling and punctuation Note on maps and place names Preface 1. Preliminaries, 1688 2. Practical Matters 3. Towards War, 1689 4. The Break of Dromore and the retreat to Coleraine 5. Clady and the Ards Peninsula 6. The Defence of Derry and Enniskillen 7. General Kirke 8. Endurance 9. The relief of Derry and Newtownbutler 10. A tired Old Man 11. Sligo and Dundalk 12. Winter operations, 1689-90 13. The Battle of Boyne 14. From Dublin to Limerick 15. The first siege of Limerick 16. Cork and Kinsale 17. A war of posts and ambuscades 18. Spring 1691 19. Ballymore and Athlone 20. Aughrim and Galway 21. The Curious Affair at Sligo, or the banalities of the small war 22. The second siege of Limerick 23. Dispersal Notes Select bibliography Index

About the Author :
John Childs is Emeritus Professor of Military History at the University of Leeds, UK.

Review :
Child's book is especially noteworthy in that naval operations during this war are examined thoroughly, and he is good on the battlefield tactic of the contestants. Off the battlefield, Childs is adept at unravelling the command rivalries that undermined the Jacobite war effort...In his preface, Childs writes modestly that 'an Englishman coming late in his career to the history of Ireland is constantly aware of his ignorance': but his concerns are misplaced, for he easily sails over the hurdles. There is much to commend in Child's work...a lively writing style with occasional flashes of humor and a high-spirited gleeful delight in the trivial. The general reader and the military historian can dip into this book with profit.