Ireland action from 1691.. Paul Mc's Kirke's Regiment |
He robbed many rich of their gold and their crown
He outrode the soldiers who hunted him down
Alas, he has boasted, They'll never take me,
Not a swordsman will capture the wild rapparee
He outrode the soldiers who hunted him down
Alas, he has boasted, They'll never take me,
Not a swordsman will capture the wild rapparee
Forgive me if I first offer a little explanation about a group of people known collectively to history as the Rapparees. The reason is that the most common response I experience when mentioning them in conversation is a blank look. The word Rapparee apparently derives from the Irish word ropairí, which is the plural of ropaire. A rough translation is ‘one who carries a short pike’. Rapparees were irregulars who operated on the Jacobite side during the struggle between the forces of King James II and King William III in Ireland between 1689 and 1691. The term came to be generally applied to bandits and criminals after the period in question and is pejorative in that context but not in origin.
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Current Thomond Bridge at Limerick - the town was the goal for William |
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From the castle museum at Athlone |
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Re enactors in 1690s dress taken in 2015 |
Their modus operandi was somewhat similar to that of any partisan outfit during a foreign occupation. Hidden weapons caches (in the case of the Rapparees the location was often assumed to be in bogs), lightning concentrations of troops, hit and run raids and melting into the general populace was all standard practice. The short pikes favoured by them were cut down military weapons. Their arms were supplemented by captured or stolen muskets and no doubt, swords and sgian dubh. One of the best known but by no means the only notable Rapparee was a fellow by the outstanding moniker of ‘Galloping’ Hogan.