THE VERSE below of course refers to the Battle of the Boyne and comes from an Orange commemorative ballad, possibly from one of the many versions of Boyne Water.
“July the First in Ouldbridge Town, there was a grievous battle
Where many a man lay on the ground by cannons that did rattle;
King James he pitched his tents between the lines for to retire,
But King William threw his bomb balls in and set them all on fire.”
When partition was established in 1922 the battleground itself, an iconic Orange landmark, was well within the Irish Free State, whose founders saw little reason to remember the battle, the result of which ultimately led through Athlone and Aughrim to the Siege of Limerick. This, in turn, led to the departure for France of 19,000 “Wild Geese”, who later served with distinction in French and other continental armies. Their leaving left the country defenceless, and it was another 100 years before Irish Nationalism stirred again.
The Wild Geese, the core of Sarsfield’s army, drew their swords many times again, but not for Ireland, and Thomas Davis wrote: “In far foreign fields, from Dunkirk to Belgrade, Lie the soldiers and chiefs of the Irish Brigade”.
The aftermath of the events at Oldbridge has taken years to settle, decades of bloodshed and bigotry. Slowly, very slowly, most on this island have come to realise it is possible for all creeds or tribes to live together in mutual toleration, and to respect one another’s beliefs and culture. We’re not there yet – there are still wild and bitter people who glorify the past and for whom the mists of history with their half-remembered fables and distorted visions, constitute reality. Most of us have developed tolerance and the will to live in peace. Nowhere is this dearly bought maturity more in evidence than at the site of the famous battle. At Oldbridge House, the Office of Public Works (OPW) has developed an excellent interpretative centre. It matches the high standards achieved by the OPW in preserving and restoring historical sites throughout the country.
The HA and I spent a lovely spring day there. The centre itself has historical maps and weaponry and memorabilia of the armies of the time, also a brief film, covering the salient points of the fateful engagement.
We walked over the battlefield itself, through the beautiful Meath countryside and along the “green grassy slopes of the Boyne”.
The battlefield was chosen essentially by King James, as his senior officers had major reservations about the site. The river was easily fordable in many places and the Irish had little time to erect fieldworks and fortifications as the Williamites were only a day’s march away when the Jacobite army reached the Boyne. The die was cast, the scene set and the biggest land battle ever in these islands began.
I felt that it was right and proper that the field was open now to our Northern friends, who do not share our aspirations, and that they should feel welcome and at ease as they contemplate their hallowed ground.
In 1916, the 36th Ulster Division of the British Army fought alongside the 16th and 10th (Irish) divisions along another bloody river in France. Many Irish of both persuasions fell on the Somme and are commemorated at the splendid monument, The Island of Ireland, near Ypres. There is also The Ulster Tower at Thiepval and the 16th Irish Division memorial at Wytschaete. Death drew no distinction between the South and the North, but at home such distinctions were being drawn and the tribes moved apart again.
I leave the last word on these musings on the Boyne to the first English Nobel Laureate in Literature, Rudyard Kipling, whose only son fell fighting with the Irish Guards at Loos in 1915:
“Ireland no more!
From Barry Wood to Gouzeaucourt
From Boyne to Pilkem Ridge,
The ancient days come back no more
Than water under a bridge.
But the bridge it stands and the water runs
As red as yesterday,
And the Irish move to the sound of the guns
Like salmon to the sea.”