The Irish Brigade, 1670–1745: The Wild Geese in French Service

D. P. Graham

Sep 2019 · Pen and Sword

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“Highly Recommended . . . an absorbing account of a military formation that became an elite force within the French Army.” —Firetrench
 
Irish troops had fought for Louis XIV in the 1670s, under Irish officers who had little choice but to fight in foreign service, with the blessing of Charles II. With the accession of James II, and the religious politics of who might earn the English crown, they became embroiled in the Jacobite succession crisis, fighting in Ireland, then sent to France under Lord Mountcashel in 1689. With the fall of Limerick in 1691, Patrick Sarsfield led the second “flight” of “Wild Geese” to the continent, to fight in a war for the French, against the Grand Alliance of Europe, in the vain hope that their loyalty might warrant French support in a return to Ireland under a Jacobite king.
 
From the Nine Years War, through the War of the Spanish Succession, and beyond, their descendants would be present at Fontenoy, Culloden and in the Americas, forever destined to fight for a cause and land which had changed beyond recognition.
 
D.P. Graham explains the origins of the brigade and its regiments, the personalities who led them and formed their reputation, and the circumstances of their final dissolution in the aftermath of French Revolution.
 
“An excellent study of the events that led up to the creation of the Wild Geese, and in particular the brutal war in Ireland, a conflict that still has an impact in the present day.” —History of War

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D.P. Graham has an MA in History and is working toward a PhD. He has lectured on various aspects of Irish military history, and lives in Co. Antrim. He is the author of Enniskillen and The Battle of Newtownbutler, 1689; Brothers in Arms, The Hamiltons in Ireland, England and France, 1610-1719; and Lord Mountcashel: Irish Jacobite General.