Rapparee Facts for Kids

For other uses, see Rapparee (disambiguation).

Rapparees were Irish fighters who used surprise attacks, like guerrilla tactics, in the 1690s. They fought on the side of King James II during a big conflict in Ireland called the Williamite war in Ireland. The word "Rapparee" comes from the Irish word ropairí, which means "stabbers" or people who use a short spear called a half-pike. After the war, some Rapparees became bandits or highwaymen, robbing people on roads. Many of these fighters were from important Irish families who had lost their land. They often followed the old rules of their Irish clan leaders. Rapparees were a bit like the hajduks, who were similar fighters in Eastern Europe.

Early Irish Guerrilla Fighters
- Wood-Kerne and Tories
- Tories Against Cromwell
Rapparees in the Williamite War
- Rapparee Tactics and Impact
Rapparees in Stories
See also

Early Irish Guerrilla Fighters

Ireland has a long history of fighters who used guerrilla tactics. These are surprise attacks by small groups, rather than big armies fighting face-to-face.

Wood-Kerne and Tories

In the 1500s, Irish irregular fighters were called ceithearnaigh choille, which means "wood-kerne". This name came from "kerne," a term for Irish foot soldiers.

Later, in the 1640s and 1650s, during the Irish Confederate Wars, Irish fighters who used these tactics were known as "tories". This word came from the Irish tóraí, meaning "pursuer."

Tories Against Cromwell

From 1650 to 1653, during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, these tories caused a lot of trouble for the English army led by Oliver Cromwell. They would attack army bases, tax collectors, and supply wagons. Then, they would quickly disappear before larger groups of soldiers could catch them.

English commanders tried hard to stop these groups. They destroyed food supplies in areas where tories were active, hoping to starve them out. They also told civilians to leave certain areas. If anyone was found there, they would be treated as enemies. Some captured tories were even sent away to work as servants in other countries. Eventually, many tories left Ireland to join armies in France and Spain.

Even after the war, some tories continued to fight against the new English rule. Many were Irish Catholics who had lost their land and homes. Their difficult lives are shown in an old Irish song from the area of Munster:

Is fada mise amuigh faoi shneachta agus faoi shioc
is gan dánacht agam ar éinneach,
mo sheisreach gan scur, mo bhranar gan cur,
is gan iad agam ar aon chor.
Níl caraid agam, is danaid liom san,
a ghlacfadh mé moch nó déanach,
is go gcaithfidh mé dul thar farraige soir
ós ann nach bhfuil mo ghaolta.

This song means: "I've been out in the snow and frost for a long time, with no one I know. My farm tools are unused, my fields unploughed, and I've lost everything. I'm sad I have no friends who would take me in. I must go east across the sea, because I have no family there."

Rapparees in the Williamite War

In the 1690s, during a big change in English power called the Glorious Revolution, the name "tory" was used to insult English supporters of King James II. In Ireland, most Irish Catholics supported King James, and they were called Jacobites.

King James and his French allies didn't have enough weapons or money for all their soldiers. So, many Irish regiments were disbanded. It was from these groups that most of the Rapparees were formed. They found their own weapons, like muskets, long knives called sceana, and half-pikes. The Rapparees got their name from these half-pikes, which were about 6 feet (2 meters) long. A regular army pike was much longer, up to 16 feet (5 meters).

Rapparee Tactics and Impact

Throughout the war, Rapparees caused big problems for the Williamite army (who supported King William III). They would raid supply areas and kill soldiers and their supporters. However, some Rapparee groups also got a bad name for robbing everyone, even other Catholics.

A chaplain with the Williamite army wrote that Rapparees would hide their weapons in bogs (wetlands) when Williamite soldiers were around. They would then blend in with regular people. Once the soldiers left, they would get their weapons back and reappear.

Rapparees were very helpful to the Jacobite side. They forced thousands of Williamite soldiers to guard supplies and convoys, instead of fighting in battles. Famous Rapparees like "Galloping Hogan" and Éamonn an Chnoic are even said to have helped Sir Patrick Sarsfield lead a surprise cavalry attack. This attack destroyed the Williamite army's siege equipment at the siege of Limerick in 1690.

Rapparees in Stories

Rapparees have appeared in books and songs. For example, in Thomas Flanagan's book Year of the French, a character defends his home against "the sporadic sallies of the rapparees, the swordsmen, masterless now, of the defeated James Stuart".

There's also an old folk song about the Rapparee:

How green are the fields that washed the Finn
How grand are the houses the Peelers live in
How fresh are the crops in the valleys to see
But the heath is the home of the wild rapparee

Ah, way out on the moors where the wind shrieks and howls
Sure, he'll find his lone home there amongst the wild foul
No one there to welcome, no comrade was he
Ah, God help the poor outlaw, the wild rapparee

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

There's a stone covered grave on the wild mountainside.
There's a plain wooden cross on which this is inscribed:
Kneel down, dear stranger, say an Ave for me
I was sentenced to death being a wild rapparee

Rapparee facts for kids

Contents