Patrick Sarsfield : Short Biography

Patrick Sarsfield was born in 1630 in Lucan, Co. Dublin. His family were well off and owned a large estate. His father was a prominent supporter of the Irish cause in the Irish Confederate Wars. It is hardly surprising then that his son would follow in his footsteps to become a military leader of the Jacobite forces in Ireland during the Williamite War. As a young man Sarsfield was involved in various acts of ill-repute, such as duelling and bride-knapping (the abduction of wealthy heiresses for the purpose of marriage). It was not until the accession of James II that Sarsfield's fate as a military leader came into being. 

James II ignited a fervour in British and Irish Catholics, as they saw him as their true King. This saw the beginning of the Williamite Wars as the armies of William of Orange set out to defend their King's claim on the throne from the Jacobite forces. In 1685 Sarsfield was involved in the Monmouth Rebellion during which he suffered a wound to his shoulder. Three years later he fought in the Glorious Revolution, during which King James II came to Ireland with the support of the French King Louis XIV. James was popular in Ireland because of his promises of religious freedom and an eventual move towards self-governance for the nation. Sarsfield's most prominent role in the WIlliamite War was at its very end in Ireland, when he negotiated the surrender of the Jacobite forces at the Siege of Limerick. On October 3rd 1691 he signed the Treaty of Limerick, which granted the Jacobite army and their families safe passage to France, a event which woudl later be known as The Flight of the Wild Geese. The treaty also allowed the people of Ireland the right to religious freedom. 

After leaving for France on the 22nd of December 1691 with some 14,000 Irish Jacobites and their families, James II granted Sarsfield the title of Earl of Lucan. While in France Sarsfield fought for the French King and was mortally wounded at the Battle of Landen in 1693. He died shortly afterwards on the 21st of August 1693.