on the Irish army, hoping by that means to force them from the hill, which was of great advantage.  But the Irish, encouraged by the presence and conduct of Saint Ruth, kept their ground and beat the English as often as they advanced towards them.  The fight continued from noon till sunset, the Irish foot having still the better of the enemy; and Saint Ruth, observing the advantage of his side, and that the enemy’s foot were much disordered, was resolved, by advancing with the cavalry, to make the victory complete, when an unlucky shot from one of the terrible new engines, hitting him in the head, made an end of his life, and took away the courage of his army.  For Ginkell, observing the Irish to be in some disorder, gave a notable conjecture that the general was either killed or wounded, whereupon he commanded his army to advance.  The Irish cavalry, discouraged by the death of Saint Ruth, and none of the general officers coming to head them in his place, gave back, and quitted the field.  The foot who were engaged with the enemy, knowing nothing of the general’s death or the retreat of the cavalry, continued fighting till they were surrounded by the whole English army; so that the most of them were cut off, and no quarter given but to a very few; the rest, by favor of the night then approaching, for Saint Ruth was killed about sunset, made their escape.”

To this we may add the testimony of the runaway monarch:  “The Irish behaved with great spirit.  They convinced the English they had to do with men no less resolute than themselves.  Never assault was made with greater fury nor sustained with greater obstinacy.  The Irish foot repulsed the enemy several times, particularly in the center.  They even looked upon the victory as certain....  The Irish lost four thousand men.  The loss of the English was not much inferior.”

The army of Ginkell, thus in possession of the key of Connacht, advanced upon its most important city, arriving before Galway a few days after the battle of Aughrim.  Galway, however, was full of divided counsels, and speedily surrendered, so that Limerick alone remained.  Limerick was greatly weakened, now that Galway, and with Galway the whole of Connacht to which alone Limerick could look for supplies, was in the hands of the enemy.  Ginkell turned all his efforts in the direction of Limerick, appearing before the city and pitching his camp there on August 25, 1691.  Beginning with the next day, our narrator tells us, “he placed his cannon and other battering engines, which played furiously night and day without intermission, reducing that famous city almost to ashes.  No memorable action, however, happened till the night between September 15 and 16, when he made a bridge of boats over the Shannon, which being ready by break of day, he passed over with a considerable body of horse and foot on the Connacht side of the river, without any opposition.  This so alarmed Sheldon, who commanded the cavalry at that time, that without