The
Treaty of Limerick was signed on 3 October 1691 and was drafted
under two headings, military articles and civil articles.
The
military articles were short-term and were concerned for the most
part with the disposition of the Irish army in the aftermath of
the war. The most important provision of the military articles
guaranteed that any members of the garrison of Limerick, or of
any other Irish garrison within the scope of the treaty, would
be allowed to go to 
France,
and that adequate shipping would be provided to transport those
who wished to leave. Members of the garrison were also given the
option of changing sides and enlisting in the Williamite army,
however most left for France with Sarsfield.
The
civil articles were concerned primarily with the degree of toleration
to be afforded Catholics in Williamite Ireland, and the security
of the estates and property of those who had fought on the Jacobite
side. The Irish Catholics were to have the right to exercise their
religion; to have the rights of citizens; the privilege of sitting
in parliament; freedom of trade; and to be preserved from all
disturbances. The degree to which both the spirit and the letter
of these articles would be subsequently broken would leave Limerick
known as the "City of the Broken Treaty".
The
Plantations of Ireland, the Ulster, Cromwellian, and Williamite,
had lasted almost a century. More than 81% of the productive land
was confiscated from the predominantly Catholic native Irish,
and handed over to Protestant settlers from primarily Scotland
and England.
The
Queen, Mary, died of smallpox in at 32 years in 1694 and without
an heir. She was a popular Queen with both the English and the
Dutch. William's political conflicts with her father, James, and
sister, Anne, were terribly upsetting to her, however she faithfully
sided with her husband.
Anne
would take the throne after William was thrown from a horse and
died in 1702. Although William's demeanor toward his wife seemed
cold and indifferent, his deep grief over her death showed just
how much he loved and respected her.
After
a short-lived rebellion in 1715 in an attempt to seat Queen Anne's
Stuart brother, James, the Great Migration to America began and
would happen in five great waves of immigration; 1717-18, 1725-29,
1740-41, 1754-55, and 1771-75. Most of the immigrants arrived
in Philadelphia and ports on the Delaware River, then moved west
and south through the Great Valley, the Shenandoah Valley, and
into the Carolinas.
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Sources:
Desmond's
Concise History of Ireland - Jerry Desmond
Encyclopedia Britanica
Britannia
The Plantation of Ireland - Brian Orr
The Scotch-Irish: The Scot in North Britain, North Ireland,
and North America - Charles Hanna
The
Jacobite Era, 1685-1702 By Brian Ó Dálaigh
The Sieges and Treaty of Limerick (1690-1691) by Frank Noonan
Patrick Sarsfield and the Williamite War by Piers Wauchope
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Strabane District Council
England in the Reigns of James II and William III by D. Ogg
Ireland of the Welcomes Magazine
The Treaty of Limerick by J. G. Simms