Who was the Catholic soldier Patrick Sarsfield

A. Saint Don's question is answered, in a nutshell, by Tophat: He was a Jacobite soldier who played a leading role in the Irish Roman Catholic resistance (1689-91) to England’s King William III. He remains a hero of the Irish.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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Q. Dates, please.

A. Sarsfield was born at Lucan near Dublin, about 1650; died at Huy, Belgium, 1693.

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Q.� Family background

A.� He was descended from the O'Mores, princes of Leix, on the maternal side. His grandfather was Roger More, one of the leaders who planned the rebellion of 1641. His father's side was of Anglo-Norman stock. One of his ancestors was mayor of Dublin in 1566 and was knighted by Sir Henry Sidney for services rendered to the government. Another Sarsfield, in the reign of Charles I, became Lord Kilmallock.

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Q.� A man of substance

A.� His father left him property bringing an income of �2,000 a year. His elder brother William was married to Mary, illegitimate daughter of Charles II by Lucy Walters, sister of the Duke of Monmouth. Patrick married Honora De Burgo at Portumna Castle, Portumna, Co Galway in 1689. She was the daughter of the Earl of Clanricarde, and her mother was Lady Ellen, daughter of Donough MacCarthy, First Earl of Clancarthy.

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Q.� How did this all come about then

A.� Patrick was educated at a military college and inherited his brother's estates in 1675. In February, 1678, he went to England and received a commission as a Captain in Colonel Dongan's regiment of foot soldiers. He was Captain in Hamilton’s Dragoons from 20 June, 1685, and Lieutenant-Colonel of Dover's Horse by 18 October the next year, being made Colonel on 22 May, 1686.

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Q.� And then the Glorious Revolution

A.� Yes. James II was deposed from the throne of Great Britain, fled to France, and replaced by his protestant son-in-law William of Orange and daughter Mary. The Irish Catholics resisted the new monarchs.

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Q.� So what was Sarsfield doing then

A.� He was in Ireland and began to raise a troop of horse for King James. He was made Colonel with the rank of Brigadier-General. William invaded Ireland and Sarsfield, by this time also the MP for County Dublin and a commissioner for taxes, was at the head of a strong force guarding Athlone against the enemy.

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Q.� Successfully

A.� Successful enough for James to make him Baron Rosebery, Viscount of Tully, and Earl of Lucan, in January 1690. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the forces in Ireland. But the Jacobite forces were overwhelmed and Sarsfield was forced to make the Treaty of Limerick, which ended the war.

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Q.� And surrendered

A.� No, with 11,000 Irish soldiers, he went to France with James and joined the French army, as captain of the second troop of Irish Life Guards in January, 1692. The War of the Grand Alliance was raging and the Irish soldiers — who became known as the Wild Geese — were welcomed to the cause.

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Q.� And Sarsfieldv continued his glorious career

A.� Not for long. He was killed at the head of a French division at the Battle of Landen in the attack on the village of Neerwinde, Flanders, on 29 July, 1693. He is buried in the grounds of St Martin's Church, Huy.

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Q.� A hero's end

A.� Perhaps. There is a tradition that Sarsfield, as he lay mortally wounded, lamented that the blood was not shed for his beloved Ireland.

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By Steve Cunningham

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