Dutch invasion at Battle of Aughrim site!

A 326-year link between Holland and Aughrim will be made on Tuesday next when a party of ‘Williamites’ arrive at the East Galway village.

The part of 36 Dutch visitors – who describe themselves as ‘friends of Amerongen Castle’ – will take part in an historic tree-planting ceremony at the site of the Battle of Aughrim.

Cathaoirleach of Galway Co. Council, Cllr. Michael Connolly, will officially greet the party of Dutch visitors at 2pm next Tuesday.

“I’m looking forward to meeting these people and in its own little way, I think that this visit will show we’ve moved on here in Ireland in an inclusive way.

“We need to get the message out there that everyone is welcome to visit our places of historical interest from all sides – we want more and more people coming to these places on our own doorstep,” said Cllr. Connolly.

The local Aughrim Interpretative Centre will be opening specially for the guests who have links with Godard de Ginkell, Commander of the Williamite forces at the Battle of Aughrim on July 12, 1691. Amerongen Castle in the Netherlands is the birth place of General de Ginkell.

Local man Paddy Naughton, said that Tuesday’s visit by the 36 people from the Netherlands, was another historic day for the Aughrim area, and represented an important historical link with the battle of nearly 325 years ago.

“We look forward to welcoming these visitors to our site and Interpretative Centre and we also look forward to the Cathaoirleach of Galway Co. Council, Cllr. Michael Connolly taking part in the tree planting ceremony,” said Paddy Naughton.

Historian Dr. Padráig Lenihan of NUI Galway will be the keynote speaker at Tuesday’s event – Dr. Lenihan has written and spoken extensively of the significance of the battle in the context of Irish history.

He has pointed out that the Battle of Aughrim – rather than the Battle of the Boyne – was the most significant confrontation of the Williamite versus Jacobite war of the 17th century.

Most people will remember the story of the battle from their history classes which recounted that a turning point of the confrontation was the loss of the Jacobite commander, General St. Ruth, in the height of the action, who had his head blown off by a cannon ball.