Religious War and Upheavals
Waterford was occupied by Mountjoy in 1603 during the Nine Years War (Ireland) a rebellion led by Hugh O'Neill, ostensibly in the cause of Irish freedom and the Catholic religion. Despite their own adherence to Catholicism, the townspeople largely sided with the English government forces. However, upon the coronation of James VI of Scotland as king of England in 1603, the citizens participated in an uprising that was common to the coastal cities of Munster and refused entry to Mountjoy, the king's Lord Deputy of Ireland, who had just secured the surrender of Hugh O'Neill. The motivation for Waterford's defiance lay in the people's demand for freedom of religion - they were led by Catholic priests and re-consecrated several churches in the city - although there were also mutterings about the nationality of the new king. After negotiations, Lord Mountjoy was granted entry to the city and the citizens pledged their loyalty anew.
However, Waterford's Roman Catholic population became deeply alienated from the English Protestant state in Ireland in the following 40 years. After the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Waterford was a centre of support for the Confederate Catholics of Ireland - a de facto independent Irish state formed to fight for Irish Catholic interests in the Irish Confederate Wars. Within the Confederation, Waterford was known for its militant Catholic politics - rejecting an alliance signed between the Confederates and Charles I that would have sent Irish troops to fight for the King in the English Civil War. Waterford was visited by the Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Giovanni Battista Rinuccini in 1648. The latter, in his "Report on the Affairs of Ireland" sent to Pope Innocent X, described Waterford as being "one of the only two Irish cities he would place in the front rank for reverence to the Holy See." In 1649 during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, the city was unsuccessfully besieged by Oliver Cromwell, but was forced to surrender to his Deputy, Henry Ireton, after a prolonged siege in the summer of the following year.
After the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, both James II and William of Orange came by Waterford, James on his way to France and William returning to England. It was soon after this, about 1700, that the Huguenots came to Waterford, sponsored by the English Protestant regime.
Read more about this topic: History Of Waterford
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