FN 102 The story, as told by the enemies of Tyrconnel, will be found in the Macariae Excidium, and in a letter written by Felix O'Neill to the Countess of Antrim on the 10th of July 1691. The letter was found on the corpse of Felix O'Neill after the battle of Aghrim. It is printed in the Rawdon Papers. The other story is told in Berwick's Memoirs and in the Light to the Blind.
FN 103 Macariae Excidium; Life of James, ii 456.; Light to the Blind.
FN 104 Macariae Excidium.
FN 105 Story's Continuation.
FN 106 Burnet, ii. 79.; Story's Continuation.
FN 107 "They maintained their ground much longer than they had been accustomed to do," says Burnet. "They behaved themselves like men of another nation," says Story. "The Irish were never known to fight with more resolution," says the London Gazette.
FN 108 Story's Continuation; London Gazette, July 20. 23. 1691;Memoires de Berwick; Life of James, ii. 456.; Burnet, ii. 79.;Macariae Excidium; Light to the Blind; Letter from the English camp to Sir Arthur Rawdon, in the Rawdon Papers; History of William the Third, 1702.
The narratives to which I have referred differ very widely from each other. Nor can the difference be ascribed solely or chiefly to partiality. For no two narratives differ more widely than that which will be found in the Life of James, and that which will be found in the memoirs of his son.
In consequence, I suppose, of the fall of Saint Ruth, and of the absence of D'Usson, there is at the French War Office no despatch containing a detailed account of the battle.
FN 109 Story's Continuation.
FN 110 Story's Continuation; Macariae Excidium; Life of James, ii. 464.; London Gazette, July 30., Aug. 17. 1691; Light to the Blind.
FN 111 Story's Continuation; Macariae Excidium; Life of James, ii. 459; London Gazette, July 30., Aug. 3. 1691.
FN 112 He held this language in a letter to Louis XIV., dated the 5/15th of August. This letter, written in a hand which it is not easy to decipher, is in the French War Office. Macariae Excidium;Light to the Blind.
FN 113 Macariae Excidium; Life of James, ii. 461, 462.
FN 114 Macariae Excidium; Life of James, ii. 459. 462.; London Gazette, Aug. 31 1691; Light to the Blind; D'Usson and Tesse to Barbesieux, Aug. 13/23.
FN 115 Story's Continuation; D'Usson and Tesse to Barbesieux Aug.
169r. An unpublished letter from Nagle to Lord Merion of Auk. 15.
This letter is quoted by Mr. O'Callaghan in a note on Macariae Excidium.
FN 116 Macariae Excidium; Story's Continuation.
FN 117 Story's Continuation; London Gazette, Sept. 28. 1691; Life of James, ii. 463.; Diary of the Siege of Lymerick, 1692; Light to the Blind. In the account of the siege which is among the archives of the French War Office, it is said that the Irish cavalry behaved worse than the infantry.
FN 118 Story's Continuation; Macariae Excidium; R. Douglas to Sir A. Rawdon, Sept. 2S. 1691, in the Rawdon Papers; London Gazette, October 8.; Diary of the Siege of Lymerick; Light to the Blind;Account of the Siege of Limerick in the archives of the French War Office.
The account of this affair in the Life of James, ii. 464., deserves to be noticed merely for its preeminent absurdity. The writer tells us that seven hundred of the Irish held out some time against a much larger force, and warmly praises their heroism. He did not know, or did not choose to mention, one fact which is essential to the right understanding of the story;namely, that these seven hundred men were in a fort. That a garrison should defend a fort during a few hours against superior numbers is surely not strange. Forts are built because they can be defended by few against many.
FN 119 Account of the Siege of Limerick in the archives of the French War Office; Story's Continuation.
FN 120 D'Usson to Barbesieux, Oct. 4/14. 1691.
FN 121 Macariae Excidium.
FN 122 Story's Continuation; Diary of the Siege of Lymerick.
FN 123 London Gazette, Oct. S. 1691; Story's Continuation; Diary of the Siege of Lymerick.
FN 124 Life of James, 464, 465.
FN 125 Story's Continuation.
FN 126 Story's Continuation; Diary of the Siege of Lymerick;Burnet, ii. 81.; London Gazette, Oct. 12. 1691.
FN 127 Story's Continuation; Diary of the Siege of Lymerick;London Gazette, Oct. 15. 1691.
FN 128 The articles of the civil treaty have often been reprinted.
FN 129 Story's Continuation; Diary of the Siege of Lymerick.
FN 130 Story's Continuation; Diary of the Siege of Lymerick.
FN 131 Story's Continuation. His narrative is confirmed by the testimony which an Irish Captain who was present has left us in bad Latin. "Hic apud sacrum omnes advertizantur a capellanis ire potius in Galliam."FN 132 D'Usson and Tesse to Barbesieux, Oct. 17. 1691.
FN 133 That there was little sympathy between the Celts of Ulster and those of the Southern Provinces is evident from the curious memorial which the agent of Baldearg O'Donnel delivered to Avaux.
FN 134 Treasury Letter Book, June 19. 1696; Journals of the Irish House of Commons Nov. 7. 1717.
FN 135 This I relate on Mr. O'Callaghan's authority. History of the Irish Brigades Note 47.
