Rapparees or raparees (from the
Irish ''ropairÃ'', plural of ''ropaire'', whose primary meaning is "thruster, stabber," and by extension a wielder of the
half-pike
A spontoon, sometimes known by the variant spelling espontoon or as a half-pike, is a type of European polearm that came into being alongside the pike. The spontoon was in common use from the mid-17th century to the early 19th century, but it was ...
or pike), were Irish
guerrilla fighters who operated on the
Jacobite side during the 1690s
Williamite war in Ireland. Subsequently, the name was also given to
bandits and
highwaymen in Ireland – many former
guerrillas having turned to crime after the war ended. They were in many cases outlawed members of the
Gaelic nobility of Ireland
This article concerns the Gaelic nobility of Ireland from ancient to modern times. It only partly overlaps with Chiefs of the Name because it excludes Scotland and other discussion. It is one of three groups of Irish nobility, the others being ...
and still held to the
code of conduct of the
traditional chiefs of the
Irish clan
Irish clans are traditional kinship groups sharing a common surname and heritage and existing in a lineage-based society, originating prior to the 17th century. A clan (or ''fine'' in Irish) included the chief and his patrilineal relatives; howe ...
s.
They share many similarities with the
hajduk
A hajduk ( hu, hajdúk, plural of ) is a type of irregular infantry found in Central and parts of Southeast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries. They have reputations ranging from bandits to freedom fighters depending on time, p ...
s of Eastern Europe.
Wood kerne and Tories
There was a long tradition of
guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...
in Ireland before the 1690s. Irish irregulars in the 16th century were known as ''ceithearnaigh choille'', "wood-kerne", a reference to native Irish foot-soldiers called ''ceithearnaigh'', or
"kerne".
In the
Irish Confederate Wars
The Irish Confederate Wars, also called the Eleven Years' War (from ga, Cogadh na hAon-déag mBliana), took place in Ireland between 1641 and 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in the kin ...
of the 1640s and 50s, irregular fighters on the
Irish Confederate
The Irish Confederation was an Irish nationalist independence movement, established on 13 January 1847 by members of the Young Ireland movement who had seceded from Daniel O'Connell's Repeal Association. Historian T. W. Moody described it as "th ...
side were known as "tories", from the Irish word ''tóraidhe'' (modern ''tóraÃ'') meaning "pursuer".
From 1650 to 1653, during the
Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland wi ...
, the tories caused the
Parliamentarian forces led by
Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
a great deal of trouble, attacking vulnerable garrisons, tax-collectors and supply columns and then melting away when faced with detachments of Parliamentarian troops.
Henry Ireton
Henry Ireton ((baptised) 3 November 1611 – 26 November 1651) was an English general in the Parliamentarian army during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and the son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell. He died of disease outside Limerick in November 16 ...
first led a sweep of
County Wicklow
County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...
and the south
midlands
The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...
in September–October 1650 to try to clear it of tory guerrillas.
During the 1650–51 winter, the Parliamentarian commander
John Hewson led punitive columns into the midlands and the Wicklow mountains to try and root out the guerilla bands. Although they captured a number of small castles and killed several hundred guerrillas, they were not able to stop the guerilla attacks. In Wicklow especially, Hewson destroyed all stocks of food he found in order to starve the guerrillas into submission.
The guerrillas were eventually defeated in part by ordering all civilians from areas where they operated to leave their habitations, and then designating these regions (in areas which included Wicklow and much of the south of Ireland) as what would now be termed
free-fire zone
A freedom zone to fire in U.S. military parlance is a fire control measure, used for coordination between adjacent combat units. The definition used in the Vietnam War by U.S. troops may be found in field manual FM 6-20:
:A specific designated ar ...
s, where anyone found still residing in them would then be allowed to be "taken slain and destroyed as enemies and their cattle and goods shall be taken or spoiled as the goods of enemies" by Parliamentarian soldiers. Hewson also ordered the expulsion of
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
townsmen from
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, for fear they were aiding the guerillas in the countryside. Other
counterinsurgency tactics included selling those captured as
indentured servants and finally publishing surrender terms allowing guerillas to leave the country to enter military service in France and Spain. The last organised bands of tories surrendered in 1653 when many of them left Ireland to serve in foreign armies.
After the war, many tories continued their activities, "a spasmodic and disconnected opposition to the new regime", in part as Catholic partisans, in part as ordinary criminals who "brought misery to friend and foe alike". The ranks of tories remained filled throughout the post-war period by displaced Irish Catholics whose land and property were confiscated in the
Cromwellian Settlement
The Act for the Setling of Ireland imposed penalties including death and land confiscation against Irish civilians and combatants after the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and subsequent unrest. British historian John Morrill wrote that the Act and a ...
.
Their situation is reflected in this stanza from a contemporary song from
Munster
Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rà ruirech). Following the ...
, "
Éamonn an Chnoic":
(''Long have I been out in snow and frost, having no one that I know, my plough-team still unyoked, the fallow unploughed, and with those things lost to me; I regret not having friends who would take me in at morning or night, and that I must go eastwards over the sea, for there I have no relations.'')
Williamite War
In the 1690s, during the
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...
, the label "
tory
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
" was insultingly given to the English supporters of
James II James II may refer to:
* James II of Avesnes (died c. 1205), knight of the Fourth Crusade
* James II of Majorca (died 1311), Lord of Montpellier
* James II of Aragon (1267–1327), King of Sicily
* James II, Count of La Marche (1370–1438), King C ...
, to associate them with the Irish rebels and bandits of a generation earlier. In Ireland, Irish Catholics supported James – becoming known as
Jacobites
Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to:
Religion
* Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include:
** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometimes ...
. Under
Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, each locality had to raise a regiment to support the Jacobite cause. Most did so, but James and his French backers did not have the resources to arm and pay them all, so many of them were disbanded. It was from these bands that most of the Rapparees were organised. They armed themselves with whatever they could find or take from Protestant civilians, including
musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...
s, long knives (''sceana'' or "skiens") and half-pikes. The rapparees got their name from this last weapon – a
pike
Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to:
Fish
* Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus''
* Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes
* ''Esox'', genus of ...
about 6 feet (2 m) long, cut down from the standard military pike which was up to 16 feet (5 m) long.
Throughout the campaign, the rapparees caused major logistical problems to the Williamite army, raiding their rear areas and killing their soldiers and supporters. Many rapparee bands developed a bad reputation among the general civilian population, including among Catholics, for robbing indiscriminately.
George Warter Story
George Warter Story (1664?–1721) was an English clergyman, known for his history of the Williamite War in Ireland, of which he was an eye witness.
Life
He was eldest son of Thomas Story of Justice Town, near Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle, Cumbe ...
, a chaplain with a Williamite regiment, relates that the rapparees hid their weapons in bogs when Williamite troops were in the area and melted into the civilian population, only to re-arm and reappear when the troops were gone. The rapparees were a considerable help to the Jacobite war effort, tying down thousands of Williamite troops who had to protect supply depots and columns. The famous rapparees "
Galloping Hogan
Michael "Galloping" Hogan was an Irish rapparee or brigand following the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.
He was born in the parish of Doon, at the foot of the Slieve Phelim hills in East Limerick, and was possibly a relatively wealthy landowne ...
" and
Éamonn an Chnoic are said to have guided Sir
Patrick Sarsfield
Patrick Sarsfield, 1st Earl of Lucan, ga, Pádraig Sáirseál, circa 1655 to 21 August 1693, was an Irish soldier, and leading figure in the Jacobite army during the 1689 to 1691 Williamite War in Ireland.
Born into a wealthy Catholic famil ...
's cavalry raid that destroyed the Williamite siege train at the
siege of Limerick in 1690.
Fiction
Rapparees have been mentioned in fiction, for example in
Thomas Flanagan's ''
Year of the French'': "Joshua's son Jonathan, who in 1690 had raised his company to serve King William at the Boyne and Aughrim and Limerick, rode home to Mount Pleasant and defended it for five years against the sporadic sallies of the rapparees, the swordsmen, masterless now, of the defeated
James Stuart".
There is a folk song (of 19th century origin - see the reference to "Peelers"
[ Royal Irish Constabulary]), devoted to the Rapparee:
See also
*
Willy Brennan
*
Liam Deois
Liam Deois (aka Liam Joyce), floruit, fl. early 19th century, was a highwayman who lived at Gleann 'a Ghadaà (valley of the robbers), Ballybackagh, some four miles north-west of Athenry, Co Galway, Ireland. Locally described as a big man and fe ...
*
Shane Bernagh
Shane Bernagh Donnelly was an Irish rapparee who was active in the Cappagh and Altmore area of County Tyrone during the 17th century who would use the mountains as a vantage point to launch daring hold ups on carriages passing through the area ...
*
Éamonn an Chnoic
*
James Freney
*
Black Francis Corrigan
Black Francis McHugh, also known as "ProinsÃas Dubh", was a notorious highwayman, or Rapparee, who 'robbed the rich to give to the poor' at the end of the 18th century. His origins lay in Meenclogher ( Co Tyrone).
Black Francis and his gang
Bla ...
*
Captain Gallagher
Captain Gallagher (died 1818) was an Irish highwayman who, as one of the later Irish Rapparees (guerrillas), led a bandit group in the hills of the Irish countryside, armed with a blunderbuss, of the day, during the late 18th and early 19th ...
*
Galloping Hogan
Michael "Galloping" Hogan was an Irish rapparee or brigand following the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.
He was born in the parish of Doon, at the foot of the Slieve Phelim hills in East Limerick, and was possibly a relatively wealthy landowne ...
*
Tomás Bán Mac Aodhagáin
*
Dubhaltach Caoch Mac Coisdealbhaigh
Colonel Dubhaltach Caoch Mac Coisdealbhaigh, Irish soldier and Rapparee, died on Sunday 3 March 1667.
Life
Mac Coisdealbhaigh was a member of the Costello family of Connacht. His brother was the soldier and poet, Tomás Láidir Mac Coisdealbhaig ...
*
Tomás Láidir Mac Coisdealbhaigh
Tomás Láidir Mac Coisdealbhaigh, Irish soldier and poet, fl. 1660s.
Tomás Láidir Mac Coisdealbhaigh was a member of the Costello family of north Connacht who lost their lands in the Cromwellian confiscations of the 1650s. He was a descendan ...
*
Seamus McMurphy
Seamus McMurphy (Irish: ) was an Irish poet and rapparee, 1720-1750.
Early life
He was born at Carnally, Creggan parish, near Crossmaglen, in County Armagh, modern-day Northern Ireland, about 1720. His father's name is unknown although his moth ...
*
Madden Raparees GAC
*
Donogh Dáll Ó Derrig Donogh Dáll Ó Derrig, aka Blind Donogh O'Derrick, was an Irish people, Irish rapparee, executed December 1656.
Ó Derrig was a rapparee active in County Kildare in the early 1650s in the aftermath of the Irish Confederate Wars.
A court-martial h ...
*
Redmond O'Hanlon (outlaw)
Count Redmond O'Hanlon ( ga, Réamonn Ó hAnluain), (c. 1640 – 25 April 1681) was a 17th-century Irish tóraidhe or rapparee; an outlawed member of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland who still held to the code of conduct of the traditional chiefs ...
*
Neesy O'Haughan
Naoise O'Haughan ( ga, Naoise Ó hEocháin),Naoise
stmarys-belfast.ac.uk also known as Neesy, Ness and ...
*
Dónal Ó Maoláine
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
{{Refend
17th century in Ireland
Williamite War in Ireland
Guerrilla wars
Irish outlaws
Irish Jacobites