Siege of Derry
Who Fought
History & Significance
The siege of Derry in 1689 was the first major event in the Williamite War in Ireland. The siege was preceded by an attempt against the town by Jacobite forces on 7 December 1688 that was foiled when 13 apprentices shut the gates. Closing the gates was an act of rebellion against James II.
The second attempt began on 18 April 1689 when James himself appeared before the walls with an Irish army led by Jacobite and French officers. The town was summoned to surrender but refused. The siege began. The besiegers tried to storm the walls, but failed. They then resorted to starving Derry. They raised the siege and left when supply ships broke through to the town. The siege lasted 105 days from 18 April to 1 August 1689. It is commemorated yearly by the Protestant community.
The "Glorious Revolution" overthrew James II, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland and replaced him with William of Orange, who landed in England on 5 November 1688. James fled to France in December. Louis XIV, King of France, received James well because he needed him and his supporters, the Jacobites, as allies in the Nine Years' War, which he had just started by investing Philippsburg on 27 September and declaring war on the Dutch Republic on 6/16 November. On 7 May 1689, Williamite England declared war on France, quite belatedly, as French officers and experts had already been fighting William's troops at Derry before that time. This siege was part of the Williamite War in Ireland, which in turn is a side-show of the Nine Years' War.
In Scotland, the privy council asked William to assume responsibility for the government in January 1689, and William and Mary were formally offered the Scottish throne in March. However, many Scottish people, especially among the Highland clans, had sympathies for the Jacobite cause.
Ireland, however, was still ruled by Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnell, whom James had appointed viceroy (i.e. Lord Deputy) in 1687. Tyrconnell was from an Old English (Norman) Catholic family. He had re-admitted Catholics to the Irish Parliament and public office, and had replaced Protestant officers with Catholic ones in the army. Tyrconnell, and Irish Catholics in general, stayed loyal to James and many Irish Protestants hesitated to declare themselves openly for William. Tyrconnell took action against those who did, and by November 1688 only the Protestants of Ulster were still resisting. Two Ulster towns, Enniskillen and Derry, were to become the focal points of the first stage of the Williamite war.
Louis XIV had revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685, which resulted in Huguenots fleeing to northern Europe and rekindled fears of persecution in Protestant communities.
The ground they fought on
The site of Siege of Derry lies on Southern Highland Group, bedrock that formed in the Middle Cambrian. The rock here is psammite and pelite.
- Williamites: 4,000 killed (mostly by disease) or wounded
Frequently Asked Questions
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- Siege of Derry · Wikidata
- Siege_of_Derry · Wikipedia