View source for The Siege of Derry

After [[William of Orange]] and his wife Mary had been invited to the English throne in what was to be called the [[Glorious Revolution]] in 1688, his Catholic predecessor [[James II]] fled to Ireland. In an attempt to remove the Protestant Settlers of the Northern Part of Ireland who had been brought there during the Ulster Plantations, James II gathered his loyal forces and marched north. Apart from the two walled cities, Enniskillen and Derry, Ulster lay practically at his mercy. On 18 March 1689 James' troops arrived before the 20 feet-thick walls of Derry, at this time a Protestant stronghold. At the sight of the approaching army the city, the population of which had swelled due to migration from the countryside, seemed torn between two options, either surrender or to resist. While uncertainty was dominant within the city walls, the Apprentice Boys of Derry took their city's fate into their hands and closed the gates: The Siege of Derry had begun.

Derry's advantage lay in the fact that the Jacobite Army was by no means equipped for a siege and the outcome of the affair was also influenced by the arrival of William of Orange plus his troops on the shores of Ulster. When Williamite troops finally managed to create a gap in the Jacobite defence lines and supplies could be brought into the starving town, the fortunes began to turn, and finally, after 105 days, the Jacobite Army had to call off the siege.

After this event, the initiative began to slip from James' hands and his troops were slowly but surely pushed back in a southern direction which finally led them to Drogheda where [[the Battle of the Boyne]] was about to take place.


Sources:

Kee, Robert. ''The Green Flag. A History of Irish Nationalism''. London: Penguin Books, 2000.

Maurer, Michael. ''Kleine Geschichte Englands''. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1997.

Staples, Norman. ''A Short History of Ireland''. 2004. TV Series.