James II and an independant Ireland

James II flees from England and the Gloriuos Revolution ensues. At the crucial Battle of the Boyne James II dosn't lose his nerve and the Hiberno-French forces crush the Dutch-English forces.
William III survives and reigns as co-monarch in Britain, James II cannot regain Britain due to lack of French support because of their continental wars.
James resigns himself to the Irish throne and dies a broken man in 1701, he is succeeded by his son James III under Regency is secured by the Queen Mary-Beatrice.

James II reigned (1685-1701)

James’s victory at the Battle of the Boyne was not guaranteed. William’s army had been hardened by the various wars with Louis XIV’s militant France and James’s army was largely untested but numerically superior. James‘s army routed the Williamite army and forced them to flee towards Dublin before being shot down by the French artillery.
On the 21st of August 1688 James II entered Dublin and proclaimed the independence of the Irish Kingdom until such time as it could once again be united with Britain under a Stuart King. Court was established at Dublin Castle. The French army was garrisoned in Dublin and around the South and East coasts, commencing the construction of the watch towers around the coasts.
As soon as James’s monarchy became settled the Protestant classes of Ulster became noticeably worried. The Drogheda manifesto, so named because of the massacre of Irish troops there by Cromwell, proclaimed James’s intention to restore Ulster to its former Catholic owners; many Protestants fearing persecution fled to America and Scotland. The North of Ireland was divided into Ulster, Oriel, Tyrconnel and Tyrone and restored to the formerly ruling families. However James and the Prime Minister Tyrconnel saw an opportunity to enhance the incomes of the crown and sequester any lands where the ownership was in doubt. The King ended up with considerable stretches of the midlands and east Munster as crown lands to be bled for men and resources.
The Irish court was initially highly militarised, because of the constant danger of invasion from Britain and protestant dissent in the North. James instigated the launch of a major reform programme for the Irish army and navy. The programme was overseen by the highly militaristic and charismatic Richard 1st Duke of Tyrconnel, who served as prime minister until his death in 1691, where upon he was succeeded by his son in law William 2nd Duke of Tyrconnel.
James moved into Dublin Castle with his family following his victory over William, the castle was made habitable enough for the expected brief sojourn. James and Tyrconnel poured over invasion plans for Britain with the French ambassador until Louis XIV’s reluctance to finance a British invasion was made clear to the Irish court. James and Mary-Beatrice began to make Dublin more habitable, Mary oversaw the construction of the Dublin opera house in the Baroque style, and Dublin castle was massively extended to accommodate a substantial Stuart court.
From the start the Irish court was divided between the natural Hiberno-English traditions that had pervaded previously and more natural French alliance that had become the mode. James II’s court was trilingual speaking Irish, French and English at fairly equal degrees; James never learned to speak Irish however his Queen Mary-Beatrice and his children all learned to speak the native language and took to it quite well.
The First major threat to the Realm came in the form of a protestant revolt from East Ulster led by a Williamite soldier named Maurice MacLeven in 1691, grandson of an Ulster Planter he led an army of 1,200 in a lightning attack on the important garrison of Stuart Trim, hoping to hold the castle and wait for a larger protestant army led by Maurice's brother Emmet to march and launch an attack on Dublin.
Unfortunately for the brothers a large French force was on move to take up winter quarters in Athlone and ambushed Maurice before he could reach the town. The battle of Blackfriary was a bloody affair and there were huge losses on both sides. However the French gained the upper hand and quickly marched south to take possession of the Towns Castle.
Maurice and Emmet MacLeven were hanged in Dublin shortly after the rising after Emmet had been found trying to flee Derry dressed as a woman. The protestant soldiers were faced with the choice of imprisonment or servitude on the plantations in the French Caribbean. Some chose Martinique, others returned to Scotland or the Netherlands and found work as mercenaries. Significant Protestant populations remained in Down, Antrim and Derry.
James II died a broken man in Dublin Castle in 1701, surrounded by his family, excepting for his son in law William and daughter Anne in London. He left behind a son James and a daughter Louise the Princess Royal; they would always cherish the memory of their Father so forsaken by the half-sisters Mary and Anne.
James was survived by three of his children;
· Anne Queen of Great Britain (by his first wife Lady Anne Hyde)
· James III King of Ireland (the Old Pretender or James III and VIII King of England, Scotland and Ireland)
· Louise-Marie-Thérèse the Princess Royal, Duchess of Berry (the Princess Across the Water)

James III reigned (1701-1766)

James was born in London in 1688, his birth and the rumours surrounding his substitution with a changeling; precipitated the Revolution of 1688 forcing his father to flee his British thrones. James however grew up entirely in Ireland and spoke Irish fluently; he was also a devout Catholic. James received a spectacular education from imported French and Italian tutors as well a group of Jesuit priests, his intellectual interests and sheer natural ability made him one of Irelands most intellectually impressive Monarchs.
In 1701 when his father died, James was just thirteen years old, the Regency was granted to James’ immensely popular Italian mother.
The day to day affairs of the state were handled by Mary-Beatrice and the Prime Minister the William 2nd Duke of Tyrconnel until James reached his majority in 1706, however he didn’t take full control of state affairs until 1709. The greatest tasks for Mary-Beatrice at this time were the Wars of Spanish Succession and the English Succession. James II’s dying wish was to continue support for his cousin Louis XIV in his war to gain acceptance of his grandson’s claim to the Spanish throne. Ireland thus became a garrison for French troops from which they could harry the English. During this war Queen Anne decided to pass the English throne to her father’s first cousin the Electress Sophia of Hanover. It is often said that Queen Anne genuinely believed that James III was a changeling but in light of his startling resemblance to James II and the subsequent birth of a second healthy child to Mary-Beatrice; Louise-Marie the Princess across the water, this seems highly dubious. Blatantly flouting the natural laws of succession Anne bypassed all Catholics in line for the succession and left the British throne to her second cousin George I, a German with little command of English and twenty-third in the legitimate succession to the throne.
During the war of Spanish succession Mary-Beatrice contracted two French marriages for her children, her daughter Louise-Marie the Princess Royal was married to the Duke of Berry, a grandson of Louis XV. James was engaged to Princess Charlotte-Aglae of Orleans, the daughter of the Duke of Orleans and future Regent for the infant King Louis XV. However due to the fact that Charlotte-Aglae was not born until 1700 the marriage did not take place until 1715, when James was twenty-seven years old and his bride was fifteen. Charlotte-Aglae was beautiful, witty and highly sexed, she appealed immensely to the vain King James and Charlotte-Aglae was pleased to be a Queen and thus outrank most of her siblings.
Ireland’s personal involvement in the War of Spanish Succession was minimal because of the reasonably small Irish army. The Irish were outraged by the 1711 act of Succession and launched a series of threats of rebellion and invasion of Britain. Irish finances however made this impossible. In 1715 George I succeeded to the English throne, rebellions took place in Wales and Scotland however there was overall support for a German protestant monarchy as opposed to an arguably legitimate Irish one.
The wedding festivities of James III and Charlotte-Aglae served as a welcome relief for the dreary mood after the succession debacle. Charlotte was resplendent and the festivities lasted for days. Charlotte-Aglae quickly established a French style salon where she and her husband were immersed in the company of other lively young people, artists, musicians and actors. Charlotte and James had a remarkable nine children who survived infancy;
· Beatrice (1717-1723)
· James Prince of Wales (1718-1721)
· Charles III King of Ireland (1720-1776)
· Thérèse Queen of Naples and Sicily, later Queen of Spain (1721-1795)
· Françoise Duchess of Penthièvre (1723-1762)
· Henry Cardinal-Archbishop of Armagh (1725-1797)
· Mary (1726-1728)
· Caroline Duchess of Tyrone (1728-1783)
· James Duke of Munster (1729-1779)
· Augustine Dauphine of France (1732-1769)
· Philip Duke of Tipperary (1733-1790)
· Henriette Duchess of Kildare (1734-1787)
. Charlotte managed to carve out a niche for herself as a cultural icon bringing; opera, ballet and various other French accomplishments to Ireland. James was remarkably uxorious, staying faithful to Charlotte-Aglae throughout their married life.
Upon the retirement of Tyrconnel after the conclusion of the War of Spanish Succession, James promoted his minister of the interior to the position of Prime Minister, together James and Fitzpatrick tried to steer Ireland’s foreign policy towards the restoration of the Stuart monarchy in Britain. Ireland remained in permanent alliance with France for protection.
Under Fitzpatrick’s successor the Earl of Cavan, Ireland developed a sophisticated legal system involving juries of peers and mandatory lawyers. The middle class exploded in Ireland’s main cities.
In 1744 under James and Cavan’s leadership Charles the Pretender Prince of Wales finally gained enough money and aid from France and Spain to launch an attack on Britain on behalf of his father, his loss at the battle of Culloden was the last attempt by the Stuarts to regain the British throne. Prince Charles’s invasion had succeeded with more ease and success than the English could have expected, the prospect of another successful Irish invasion drove George II to suggest the secret peace of Douglas. James had become prone to depression in the 1740’s; Culloden had finally brought the revelation that he would never rule the land of his birth. James III and George II signed the secret treaty of Douglas on the 17th of March 1745 in which they agreed to give up their claims to each other’s lands; James III would be undisputed King of Ireland and George II undisputed King of Britain.
In 1760 James worked to have his son-in law James 2nd Duke of Kildare (Husband of his youngest daughter Henriette) raised to the position of Prime Minister, fearing that his dissolute son Charles would be unable to reign alone. James III died of pneumonia in Dublin Castle in 1761, predeceasing his Queen Charlotte-Aglae by four years.

Charles III reigned (1766-1776)

Charles III was born Charles Edward James Stuart in 1722 in Dublin Castle, the first Stuart monarch born in Ireland, the eldest son of James III and Charlotte-Aglae of Orleans. Charles was raised with his brother and sisters in a cosy family environment, in which they saw more of their parents that any royal children of the time. Charles however did not receive the stellar education that his father had received, his education was carried out by professors from Trinity College in Dublin, but Charles always displayed a predisposition for martial affairs. Irish was his first language followed by French which was the only language his mother spoke fluently and the language most used in the Irish court, as it was in most European courts.
Charles grew up to be exceptionally attractive like his parents and siblings and was known to be highly sexed, possibly on the scale of an addiction, similar to Charles II. In 1744 the twenty-two year old Prince led a rebellion in favour of the Stuart dynasty in Scotland; he successfully took Scotland with little trouble and was urged to proclaim himself King, he declined and waited for a response from his father that never came. As Charles proceeded towards London, England was gripped by panic were it not for the bravery of George II personally leading his troops on horseback the war may have favoured the Stuarts. The Irish and Scots were forced back to Scotland and the army was decimated at the Battle of Culloden. Charles took flight back to Ireland; it was a testament to his charm and affability that even with a monstrous bounty on his head no one turned him in.
The English were disinclined to launch a full scale invasion of Ireland, instead James III and George II signed the secret treaty of Douglas, in which they would privately respect each other’s sovereignty. Charles returned to Ireland dejected and melancholic throwing himself into a string of sexual adventures, masking his martial failure with overt sexual prowess. James III was forced to marry off his son quickly to avoid a scandal or worse syphilis. In 1747 King James managed to arrange for his son to marry Princess Marie-Adelaide of France, daughter of Louis XV. The wedding was held at Dublin Palace and was the greatest spectacle the Irish had ever seen. Feasting, balls and Fireworks were held for days as the streets of Dublin overflowed with wine. Marie-Adelaide was not a great beauty as Queen Charlotte and Mary-Beatrice had been, but she was still pretty and her high rank as a French princess granted her an air of majesty. Charles and Marie-Adelaide had five children who survived to adulthood;
· King Charles IV (1748-1803)
· Marie-Louise Duchess of Parma (1751-1799)
· James Duke of Oriel (1752-1781)
· Anne-Henriette Comtesse d’Artois and later Queen of France (1756-1839)
· Louis Duke of Wicklow (1757-1801)
Charles and Adelaide soon lost interest in one another, Charles turned to mistresses and Marie-Adelaide turned to religion, often spending a lot of time in her father’s court in France.
When James III died Charles was by his side in Dublin Palace, Charles’s fifteen year reign saw the Irish court descend into excessive drinking and gambling, more than anything else it saw the stabilization of the Irish court and the realization that Britain would never be returned to the Stuarts.
As James had intended the real power was held by Charles’s brother in law the Duke of Kildare, he was capable and the Irish economy continued to grow faster than at any time in Ireland’s previous history. Charles was often consulted by Kildare but was generally to let his brother in law handle the affairs of state. In 1767 the Irish naval colleges and military academies were established, the start of Ireland’s military brilliance. Despites his father’s attempts Charles eventually died of syphilis, a result of his many trysts , his bedside nurse was his long suffering Wife Marie-Adelaide, his final words directed at his wife and eldest son ‘je suis desole’ are poignant.

Interesting, yhjis idea has been done before but this TL definitely appeals.

Your Stuart momnartchs are believable, particularly the desire to take back Great Britain. The only stretch I fid apparent is no further attempts to undermine the Stuarts in Ireland before George I. I would think someone would try and use Protestant discontent to open the way for England.

Could Prince Charles speak English ITTL? It looks lke Irish Gaelic will be far more prevalent ITTL. What inspired you to have the judical reform play out like it did? The Francophile court in Dublin should make matters interesting when the Seven Years War perio arrives, though wemay not have the same kind of conflict with the butterflies.

Speaking of which I am a bit surprised how matters played out with Prince Charles. I would think his father would be backing him to the hilt since that was the Stuart ambition.

Tha afdtermath is quite believable to me at least. Culloden demonstrated that even with the "lesser equals" supporting the Stuarts Great Britain was out of reach. And George II has Hanover in addition to his British Realms and thuis would prefer a peace with ireland than an expensive war that would raise the re of France.

Tragic but predictable that the dashing young Prince after failure in the field gives way to a depressed hedonist monarch.

I hope to see some interesting butterflies breed here.

Any chance of a "Holy Thread Revival" on this?

^

Well, the thread author seems to have given up. I personally think 38 months, not 3 really ought to be the limit before giving up, but it's past that point

Colm A Doyle said:

Any chance of a "Holy Thread Revival" on this?

Click to expand...

Probably not after 8 years.