Talbot was appointed to command at Carrickfergus when a major rebellion broke out amongst Irish Protestants against King James' rule. He fought on the Jacobite side during the ensuing Williamite War in Ireland. When King James arrived and summoned the Patriot Parliament, Mark was selected as Member of Parliament for Belfast. Promoted to Brigadier in 1691, he was badly wounded at the Battle of Aughrim. Following the Treaty of Limerick he was part of the Flight of the Wild Geese who went into exile on the Continent, serving with the Irish forces of the French Army. He fought in Catalonia in 1692 and was present at the Italian Battle of Marsaglia in 1693. He was then appointed to command Clare's Regiment, which was intended to be part of a planned invasion of England in 1694.