page_title: Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell
section_title: The Williamite War in Ireland
hierarchical_section_title: Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell / The Williamite War in Ireland
caption_attribution_description: English: Tyrconnell Tower, Carton Estate, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland. Allegedly built originally by Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell.
context_page_description: Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell PC was an Irish politician, courtier and soldier.
  Talbot's early career was spent as a cavalryman in the Irish Confederate Wars. Following a period on the Continent, he joined the court of James, Duke of York, then in exile following the English Civil War; Talbot became a close and trusted associate. After the 1660 restoration of James's older brother Charles to the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland Talbot began acting as agent or representative for Irish Catholics attempting to recover estates confiscated after the Cromwellian conquest, a role that would define the remainder of his career. James converted to Catholicism in the late 1660s, strengthening his association with Talbot.
  When James took the throne in 1685, Talbot's influence increased. He oversaw a major purge of Protestants from the Irish Army, which had previously barred most Catholics. James created him Earl of Tyrconnell and later made him Viceroy, or Lord Deputy of Ireland: he immediately began building a Catholic establishment by admitting Catholics to many administrative, political and judicial posts.
context_section_description: In January Tyrconnell issued warrants for an enormous expansion of the Irish army by 40,000 men, giving commissions to the Catholic gentry to raise new regiments. By spring 1689, the army theoretically stood at around 36,000 although there was little money to pay them and experienced officers remained in short supply. Accompanied by French army officers, James landed at Kinsale on 12 March, intending to use Ireland as a base from which to retake England and Scotland. He met Tyrconnell at Cork several days later, creating him Duke of Tyrconnell and Marquess of Tyrconnell (titles recognised only by the Jacobites). 
  Tyrconnell was preoccupied with preparations for the sitting of Parliament, scheduled for May and vital both to raise taxes to fund the war and to make a new Act of Settlement. His work as Viceroy on reforming local corporations meant that the so-called "Patriot Parliament" was overwhelmingly Catholic. However at this critical moment Tyrconnell fell seriously ill, meaning he was unable to attend the Parliament he had spent so long working towards; he did not return to public life until August. Tyrconnell's absence meant that Parliament rejected his original fairly moderate bill for repealing the Act of Settlement, intended to placate Protestant opinion. To James's dismay they would not grant him taxes unless he agreed to the far more radical proposal of undoing the Cromwellian settlement entirely. 
  By the time Tyrconnell had recovered, the military situation in the north had worsened. On 28 July, Percy Kirke's forces relieved Derry and the Jacobites were forced to withdraw. A large expeditionary force under Schomberg landed in Belfast Lough and captured Carrickfergus. Schomberg marched south to Dundalk and threatened to advance on Dublin; after a lengthy stalemate, the two armies withdrew into winter quarters. Both Tyrconnell and James rejected advice from their French allies to burn Dublin and retreat behind the River Shannon: Tyrconnell argued that James should take the fight to England with French support. 
  William himself, accompanied by thousands of new troops, landed at Carrickfergus on 14 June 1690. Tyrconnell, primarily concerned with preserving the Jacobite army, now argued against defending Dublin: "if I see any reasonable probability of beating the prince of Orange I am not for declining the battle, but if I doe not, I confess I am not for venturing the loss of all to preserve a place which you must lose as soon as the battle is lost". Nevertheless his cavalry were one of the few Jacobite elements fully engaged in the defeat at the Boyne, mounting fierce resistance: after the battle he urged James to leave for France.
  Tyrconnell emerged as the leader of the Jacobite "Peace Party", which argued in favour of reaching a settlement with William that would preserve Catholic rights. He was opposed by Patrick Sarsfield's "War Party", influential among junior army officers, that advocated fighting on. When in August William was forced to raise the siege of the Jacobite stronghold of Limerick, Tyrconnell seemed to be proved wrong; he sailed from Galway in October, hoping to exert influence on James and the French and gain a better peace settlement by prolonging the war. He set out to return to Ireland in December but again fell sick in Brittany. After neutralising from his sickbed an attempt by the "War Party" to discredit him at James's court in exile, he arrived at Galway in January 1691, where many of the increasingly war-weary Irish were glad of his return.
  It was noted that Tyrconnell, accompanied by a group of Irish lawyers rather than soldiers or weapons, appeared "better prepared to make peace than war". He immediately attempted to reassert his authority as Lord Deputy, particularly over the army. During February a French officer arrived with a letter announcing that a French general, Charles Chalmot de Saint-Ruhe, was on his way to take over command from Tyrconnell: a heartened Sarsfield had copies distributed, while Tyrconnell spread a story that the letter was a forgery and that Saint-Ruhe was his s
caption: Tyrconnell Tower
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