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Treaty of Limerick
Effectively the Williamite War ended in a victory for the Protestant Williamite army after the Battle of Aughrim on 12 July 1691. The Williamite commander Ginkel and his Jacobite colleague Sarsfield worked out a settlement known as the Treaty of Limerick.
Sarsfield main concern was to secure a safe retreat for his men. This was guaranteed by Ginkel, he even made ships available to bring the predominating French soldiers back home.
More difficult were issues regarding property and religion. Driven by the desire of King William III to bring European affairs back to the mainland, which meant no war on Irish or British soil, on one hand and tied by the English and Irish parliaments on the other, Ginkel found himself in an awkward split. The final agreement was too tolerant according Westminster and, considering the Penal Laws which followed shortly after the Treaty of Limerick, also according the Irish Parliament.
Some of the most important stipulations of the Treaty of Limerick are:
- Jacobites still in Ireland was granted a save retreat to France and their properties were liable to be confiscated.
- Jacobites were allowed to stay on Ireland and preserved their property right provided they gave an oath of loyalty to King William III.
- Catholic noblemen were allowed to carry arms.
Although the Treaty of Limerick was signed the last stipulation, permission to carry arms, went lost somewhere in the process. This omission and the introduction of the Penal Laws in 1695 were by the Jacobites considered as a breach of the Treaty.