Williamite War in Ireland - Long-term Effects

Long-term Effects

The Williamite victory in the war in Ireland had two main long term results. The first was that it ensured James II would not regain his thrones in England, Ireland, and Scotland by military means. The second was that it ensured closer British and Protestant dominance over Ireland. Until the 19th century, Ireland would be ruled by what became known as the "Protestant Ascendancy", the mostly Protestant ruling class. The majority Irish Catholic community and the Ulster-Scots Presbyterian community were systematically excluded from power, which was based on land ownership.

For over a century after the war, Irish Catholics maintained a sentimental attachment to the Jacobite cause, portraying James and the Stuarts as the rightful monarchs who would have given a just settlement to Ireland, including self-government, restoration of confiscated lands and tolerance for Catholicism. Thousands of Irish soldiers left the country to serve the Stuart monarchs in the Irish Brigade of the French Army. Until 1766 France and the Papacy remained committed to restoring the Stuarts to their British Kingdoms, and Irish soldiers in the French service fought on the Jacobite side in the Scottish Jacobite uprisings up to the Battle of Culloden in 1746.

Protestants, on the other hand, portrayed the Williamite victory as a triumph for religious and civil liberty. In Ireland, many in the Protestant community believed that their victory saved their community from massacre and annihilation at the hands of Roman Catholics. For this reason, the battles of the Williamite war are still commemorated by Protestant Unionists in Ulster, principally by the Orange Order on the Twelfth of July