David Sarsfield (died 1710) was an Irish

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

noted for his service in the Jacobite Army during the

Williamite War in Ireland The Williamite War in Ireland (1688–1691; ga, Cogadh an Dá Rí, "war of the two kings"), was a conflict between Jacobite supporters of deposed monarch James II and Williamite supporters of his successor, William III. It is also called th ...

. After going into exile as part of the

Flight of the Wild Geese The Flight of the Wild Geese was the departure of an Irish Jacobite army under the command of Patrick Sarsfield from Ireland to France, as agreed in the Treaty of Limerick on 3 October 1691, following the end of the Williamite War in Irelan ...

, he later served in the Spanish Army. He was killed at the

Battle of Villaviciosa The Battle of Villaviciosa (11 December 1710) was a battle between a Franco-Spanish army led by Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme and Philip V of Spain and a Habsburg-allied army commanded by Austrian Guido Starhemberg. The battle took place durin ...

in 1710. He was the son of David Sarsfield, 3rd Viscount Sarsfield and Elizabeth de Courcy, and the younger brother of

Dominick Sarsfield, 4th Viscount Sarsfield Dominick Sarsfield, 4th Viscount Sarsfield (died 1701) was an Irish aristocrat and supporter of the Jacobite cause during the Williamite War in Ireland. Part of a prominent Roman Catholic family of Old English descent (although the first Vis ...

, part of a prominent

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces of Ireland, Province , subd ...

family of

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

descent who had remained

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 let ...

. Both he and his elder brother served in the

Irish Army The Irish Army, known simply as the Army ( ga, an tArm), is the land component of the Defence Forces of Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. The A ...

of James II between 1689 and 1691. After the

Treaty of Limerick }), signed on 3 October 1691, ended the 1689 to 1691 Williamite War in Ireland, a conflict related to the 1688 to 1697 Nine Years' War. It consisted of two separate agreements, one with military terms of surrender, signed by commanders of a French ...

ended the war, they went into exile in France. After first living in France, David Sarsfield subsequently went to Spain where he was made Governor of the strategic fortress of

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The populatio ...

. He is said to have had eight children, two sons and six daughters. His daughter Catalina Sarsfield married a German adventurer Theodore von Neuhoff, who later briefly ruled the

Kingdom of Corsica The Kingdom of Corsica was a short-lived kingdom on the island of Corsica. It was formed after the islanders crowned the German adventurer Theodor Stephan Freiherr von Neuhoff as King of Corsica. Formation and downfall At Genoa, Neuhoff made ...

. She is sometimes mistakenly said to be the daughter of the Jacobite hero

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 ...

, although he was only a distant cousin.Gasper p.41

References

Bibliography

* Gasper, Julia. ''Theodore Von Neuhoff, King of Corsica: The Man Behind the Legend''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2013. 17th-century Irish people 18th-century Irish people Irish soldiers in the army of James II of England Irish Jacobites Military personnel from County Limerick Irish emigrants to Spain Flight of the Wild Geese Younger sons of viscounts {{Ireland-bio-stub