Why did William of Orange have to go into Ireland and fight the people there?
James II knew he could raise support among the papist Irish just as the Royalists had during the Civil War, many who joint James hoping to regain that which their fathers had forfeited by their support for Royalist & Confederate interests. Don’t get carried away with the idea of it being a wholly sectarian affair – a hotch-potch of catholic & protestant forces fought on both sides and the wider value of the conflict in British & European politics carries far more weight. Both sides were ployglot armies; James had numerous French troops among other European mercanaries while William’s Dutch were just as often German or French & though the most reliable element of his army were outnumbered by English & Scottish troops. From Ireland he could continue to press his claim to the Crown – William, and more over parliament, needed a decisive bring the affair to a close. Hence the Williamite forces pursued them into Ireland. The battle was slightly odd, but the “sitting down” was more the result
