Irish Squadron

Blue Ensign of the English Navy (1625-1707)

Active| 1297 - 1731
Country|  United Kingdom
Branch| Royal Navy
Type| Detached Squadron
Role| Convoy Protection, Transportation, Patrol
Garrison/HQ| Milford Haven, Wales
Greenock, Scotland

Military unit

The Irish Squadron [1] originally known as the Irish Fleet [2] was a series of temporary naval formations assembled for specific military campaigns of the English navy and Royal Navy between 1297 and 1731.

## History

[edit]

From the 13th to 17th centuries, the Irish Squadron was a temporary formation assembled for specific naval campaigns, commanded by a senior officer whose title changed a number of times. It was one of four separate fleets, the other three being the Western, Northern and Aquitaine, each with their own independent commander, until 1406 when they came under the unified command of the High Admiral of England, Ireland and Aquitaine.[3] For most of its existence, the Irish Squadron conducted operations from Milford Haven in Wales, before switching to Greenock, Scotland during the 1680s.[4]

Milford Haven

Greenock

Cork

class=notpageimage|

Irish Squadron main operating bases

In 1298, Edward I of England appointed Sir William de Leybourne as the first "Admiral of the Irish Sea", responsible for all English ships operating in that area.[5] During the 14th century, the squadron was formed on four occasions, first in 1356 during the reign of Edward III of England to protect troop convoys against Scottish privateers.[6] The other three occasions were in support of expeditions against Ireland ordered by Richard II of England; in 1382 under Sir William Spalding, 1397 under John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset and from January to September 1399 under Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester.

During the Tudor period, the squadron was re-established for service in the 1539 to 1545 Anglo-Scottish Wars and again during the 1569 to 1583 Desmond Rebellions led by Sir William Wynter, who was ordered to cut off all sea routes into Ireland and seize all ships of the pending papal invasion force.[7] At the start of the First English Civil War in 1642, most of the navy was controlled by Parliament and until 1653 it was known as the "Irish Guard Naval Squadron of Parliament", playing a significant role in the 1649 to 1651 Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.[8] Its strength varied but reached a peak of 56 ships in 1645, making it the second-largest squadron in the navy.[9]

During the Nine Years' War, the squadron fought at the Battle of Bantry Bay in May 1689 under the command of George Rooke who retained his position until early 1690. In June 1690, it took part in the Capture of Waterford led by Rear-Admiral Cloudesley Shovell and in 1691 was part of a larger naval force assembled to transfer King William III to Ireland.[10][11] Reformed in July 1727 and in July 1731, it was gradually reduced in numbers before being disbanded.[12] During the French Revolutionary Wars in 1797, the Royal Navy finally established a permanent naval formation for the Irish Sea known as the Coast of Ireland Station, based in Cork with repair and resupply bases at Kinsale Dockyard.

## In command

[edit]

Note:Incomplete list of post holders include.

No. | rank | name | date/s | appointed as | ref

|
|
|
|
|

1. | Admiral | Sir William de Leybourne | 1297 | Admiral of the Irish Sea and Admiral of the West | [13]
2. | Admiral | Sir Gervase Alard | 1304 | Admiral of the Irish Sea | [14]
3. | Admiral | John of Argyll | 1311 | Admiral of the Irish Sea | [15]
4. | Admiral | John of Argyll | 1314 | Admiral of the Irish Sea | [16]
5. | Admiral | Sir William Cray | 1315 | Admiral of the Irish Sea | [17]
6. | Admiral | Sir John d'Athy | 1318 | Admiral of the Irish Sea | [18]
7. | Admiral | Sir Simon Driby | 1319 | Admiral of the Irish Sea | [19]
8. | Admiral | Sir Robert Leyburn | 1322 | Admiral of the Irish Sea | [20]
9. | Admiral | Robert Bataill | 1323 | Admiral of the Irish Sea | [21]
10. | Admirals | Sir Robert Bendyn and Stephen Alard | 1324 | Admiral of the Irish Sea (jointly) | [22]
11. | Admirals | Sir Richard Holand | 1335 | Admiral of the Irish Sea | [23]
12. | Admiral | Sir John d'Athy | 1336 | Admiral of the Kings Fleet in Ireland | [24]
13. | Admiral | Robert Drouss, of Cork | 1356 | Admiral of the Irish Fleet | [25]
14. | Admiral | Sir William Spalding | 1382 | Admiral of the Kings Fleet in Ireland | [26]
15. | Admiral | Sir John Beaufort | 1397 | Admiral of the Irish Fleet | [27]
16. | Admiral | Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester | 1399 | Admiral of the Kings Fleet in Ireland | [28]
17. | Admiral | Sir James Dartasoo | 1404 | Admiral of the Kings Fleet in Ireland | [29]
18. | Admiral | Sir Patrick Cotterell | 1414 | Admiral of the Kings Fleet in Ireland | [30]
19. | Admiral | James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormonde | 1539-1545 | Admiral of Ireland | [31]
20. | Vice-Admiral | Sir William Wynter | 1560 | Admiral of the Irish Squadron | [32]
21. | Admiral | Sir Thomas Button | 1616-1634 | Admiral of the Irish Seas/Admiral of the Irish Coasts | [33]
22. | Vice-Admiral | Sir John Pennington | 1642-1643 | Admiral of the Irish Guard | [34]
23. | Vice-Admiral | William Smith | 1643 summer | Vice-Admiral, Commander Irish Guard | [35]
24. | Vice-Admiral | Richard Swanley | 1643-1647 | Admiral of the Irish Seas/Commander Irish Guard | [36][37]
25. | Vice-Admiral | Thomas Rainsborough | 1647-1648 | Admiral of the Irish Seas/Commander Irish Guard | [38]
26. | Vice-Admiral | Sir George Ayscue | 1648-1650 | Admiral of the Irish Seas | [39]
27. | Rear-Admiral | George Rooke | 1689-1690 | Commanding the Irish Squadron as Rear-Admiral of the Red | [40]
28. | Rear-Admiral | Cloudesley Shovell | 1690-1691 | Commanding the Irish Squadron as Rear-Admiral of the Blue | [41]

## Squadron composition

[edit]

The Irish Squadron as 1 September 1689.[42]

# | type | notes | ref

|
|
|

7 | Fourth-rate | Ships of the Line, 46-60 guns | [43]
2 | Fifth-rate | Frigates, 40 guns | [44]
15 | Sixth-rate | Frigates, 28 guns | [45]
Total Ships: 24

## Footnote

[edit]

1. ^ Davies, J. D. (2008). "Convoys, Cruisers and Station Ships". Pepys Navy, Ships, Men and Warfare 1649 to 1689. Barnsley, England: Seaforth Publishing. p. 245\. ISBN 9781848320147.
2. ^ Fortescue, Sir John; Plummer, Charles (1999). The Governance of England, Otherwise Called, The Difference Between an Absolute and a Limited Monarchy. Clark, New Jersey, USA: The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. p. 238\. ISBN 9781886363793.
3. ^ Fortescue. p.238.
4. ^ Meredith, Jon (January 2009). "The English Navy in an Irish War: George Rookes Squadron and the Jacobite War in Ireland, Summer 1689". The Mariner's Mirror. 95 (2): 179–193\. doi:10.1080/00253359.2009.10657095. S2CID 162364531.
5. ^ Gardiner, Leslie (March 1968). The British Admiralty. Edinburgh, Scotland: Blackwood. p. 20. ISBN 9780851580012.
6. ^ Clowes, Sir William Laird (1897). The Royal Navy, a History from the Earliest Times to the Present (I ed.). London: Sampson Low Marston and Company. p. 275.
7. ^ Joyce, Patrick Weston (1910). "The Geraldine Rebellion - Concise History of Ireland". libraryireland.com. National Library of Ireland. p. 404. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
8. ^ Lenihan, Pádraig (2000). Conquest and Resistance: War in Seventeenth-Century Ireland. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Publishing. p. 174\. ISBN 9789004117433.
9. ^ Murphy, Elaine (2012). Ireland and the War at Sea, 1641-1653. Woodbridge, England: Boydell & Brewer Ltd. pp. 91–92\. ISBN 9780861933181.
10. ^ Meredith, Jon (January 2009). "The English Navy in an Irish War: Captain George Rooke's Squadron and the Jacobite War in Ireland, Summer 1689". The Mariner's Mirror. 95 (2): 179–193\. doi:10.1080/00253359.2009.10657095. S2CID 162364531.
11. ^ Yonge, Charles Duke (1863). The History of the British Navy: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time. London, England: Richard Bentley. p. 106.
12. ^ Rodger, N.A.M. (7 September 2006). "Appendix III: Fleets". The command of the ocean : a naval history of Britain 1649-1815 (1st ed.). London, England: Penguin. pp. 610–617\. ISBN 9780141026909.
13. ^ Godolphin, John (1661). Synēgoros thalassios, A view of the admiral jurisdiction wherein the most material points concerning that jurisdiction are fairly and submissively discussed : as also divers of the laws, customes, rights, and priviledges of the high admiralty of England by ancient records, and other arguments of law asserted : whereunto is added by way of appendix an extract of the ancient laws of Oleron / by John Godolphin ... University of Michigan, An Arbour, MI, USA: W. Godbid for Edmund Paxton and John Sherley. pp. 197–207.
14. ^ Rodger, N.A.M. (1997). "Appendix V Admirals and Officials". The safeguard of the sea : a naval history of Britain. Vol 1., 660-1649. London, England: Penguin. pp. 504–509\. ISBN 9780140297249.
15. ^ Rodger pp. 504-509.
16. ^ Rodger pp. 504-509.
17. ^ Rodger pp. 504-509.
18. ^ Rodger pp. 504-509.
19. ^ Rodger pp. 504-509.
20. ^ Rodger pp. 504-509.
21. ^ Rodger pp. 504-509.
22. ^ Rodger pp. 504-509.
23. ^ Rodger pp. 504-509.
24. ^ Townsend, George Henry (1877). The Manual of Dates: A Dictionary of Reference to All the Most Important Events in the History of Mankind to be Found in Authentic Records. London, England: Frederick Warne. p. 16.
25. ^ Nicolas, Sir Nicholas Harris (1847). A History of the Royal Navy: 1327-1422. London: R. Bentley. pp. 524–534.
26. ^ Townsend, George Henry (1877). The Manual of Dates: A Dictionary of Reference to All the Most Important Events in the History of Mankind to be Found in Authentic Records. London, England: Frederick Warne. p. 16.
27. ^ Michael K. Jones and Malcolm G. Underwood, The King's Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, 23.
28. ^ Harris pp.524-534.
29. ^ Harris pp.524-534.
30. ^ Harris pp.524-534.
31. ^ Lundy, Darryl (19 September 2018). "Person Page: James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormonde". thepeerage.com. The Peerage. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
32. ^ Corbett, Julian Stafford (1917). "The Navy of Elizabeth". Drake and the Tudor navy, with a history of the rise of England as a maritime power. London, England: London : Longmans, Green. p. 347.
33. ^ Pearson, Karl (2011). The Life, Letters and Labours of Francis Galton. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 36\. ISBN 9781108072403.
34. ^ Murphy, Elaine (2012). Ireland and the War at Sea, 1641-1653. Woodbridge, England: Boydell & Brewer Ltd. p. 20\. ISBN 9780861933181.
35. ^ Manganiello, Stephen C. (2004). "Appendix:The Navy". The Concise Encyclopedia of the Revolutions and Wars of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1639-1660. Scarecrow Press. pp. 597–602\. ISBN 9780810851009.
36. ^ KEYMER, E. W.L.; REED, ADRIAN; GRAINGER, J. D.; WELCH, JOHN C.; LEE, C. D.; OWEN, HUGH (January 1996). "NOTES:Richard Swanley (c 1592-1650), Admiral of the Fleet on the Irish Coast". The Mariner's Mirror. 82 (4): 461–476\. doi:10.1080/00253359.1996.10656619.
37. ^ Laughton, John Knox. "Swanley, Richard" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 55\. pp. 196–197.
38. ^ Manganiello.pp.597-602.
39. ^ Le Fevre, Peter (January 1982). "Sir George Ayscue, Commonwealth and Restoration Admiral". The Mariner's Mirror. 68 (2): 189–202\. doi:10.1080/00253359.1982.10655858.
40. ^ Meredith. pp.179-193.
41. ^ Meredith. pp.179-193.
42. ^ Meredith, Jon (January 2009). "The English Navy in an Irish War: Captain George Rooke's Squadron and the Jacobite War in Ireland, Summer 1689". The Mariner's Mirror. 95 (2): 183. doi:10.1080/00253359.2009.10657095. S2CID 162364531.
43. ^ Meredith. p.183.
44. ^ Meredith. p.183.
45. ^ Meredith. p.183.

## Bibliography

[edit]

1. Clark, New Jersey, USA: The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 9781886363793.
2. Clowes, Sir William Laird (1897). The Royal Navy, a History from the Earliest Times to the Present (I ed.). London: Sampson Low Marston and Company.
3. Corbett, Julian Stafford (1917). "The Navy of Elizabeth". Drake and the Tudor navy, with a history of the rise of England as a maritime power. London, England: London : Longmans, Green.
4. Davies, J. D. (2008). "Convoys, Cruisers and Station Ships". Pepys Navy, Ships, Men and Warfare 1649 to 1689. Barnsley, England: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 9781848320147
5. Fortescue, Sir John; Plummer, Charles (1999). The Governance of England, Otherwise Called, The Difference Between an Absolute and a Limited Monarchy.
6. Godolphin, John (1661). Synēgoros thalassios, A view of the admiral jurisdiction wherein the most material points concerning that jurisdiction are fairly and submissively discussed : as also divers of the laws, customes, rights, and privileges of the high admiralty of England by ancient records, and other arguments of law asserted: whereunto is added by way of appendix an extract of the ancient laws of Oleron / by John Godolphin ... University of Michigan, An Arbour, MI, USA: W. Godbid for Edmund Paxton and John Sherley.
7. Harris, Sir Nicholas. (1847). A History of the Royal Navy: 1327-1422. London: R. Bentley
8. Joyce, Patrick Weston (1910). "The Geraldine Rebellion - Concise History of Ireland". www.libraryireland.com. National Library of Ireland.
9. KEYMER, E. W.L.; REED, ADRIAN; GRAINGER, J. D.; WELCH, JOHN C.; LEE, C. D.; OWEN, HUGH (January 1996). "NOTES:Richard Swanley (c 1592-1650), Admiral of the Fleet on the Irish Coast". The Mariner's Mirror. 82 (4): 461–476. doi:10.1080/00253359.1996.10656619.
10. Laughton, John Knox. "Swanley Richard". Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900. Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 55.
11. Le Fevre, Peter (January 1982). "SIR GEORGE AYSCUE, COMMONWEALTH AND RESTORATION ADMIRAL". The Mariner's Mirror. 68 (2): 189–202. doi:10.1080/00253359.1982.10655858.
12. Lenihan, Pádraig (2000). Conquest and Resistance: War in Seventeenth-Century Ireland. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Publishing. ISBN 9789004117433.
13. Lundy, Darryl (19 September 2018). "Person Page: James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormonde". www.thepeerage.com. The Peerage. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
14. Manganiello, Stephen C. (2004). "Appendix: The Navy". The Concise Encyclopedia of the Revolutions and Wars of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1639-1660. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810851009.
15. Meredith, Jon (2009). "THE ENGLISH NAVY IN AN IRISH WAR: CAPTAIN GEORGE ROOKE'S SQUADRON AND THE JACOBITE WAR IN IRELAND, SUMMER 1689". The Mariner's Mirror. 95 (2): 179–193. doi:10.1080/00253359.2009.10657095.
16. Michael K. Jones and Malcolm G. Underwood, The King's Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby', 23.
17. Murphy, Elaine (2012). Ireland and the War at Sea, 1641-1653. Woodbridge, England: Boydell & Brewer Ltd. ISBN 9780861933181.
18. Rodger, N.A.M. (2006). "Appendix III: Fleets". The command of the ocean: a naval history of Britain 1649-1815 (1st ed.). London, England: Penguin. ISBN 9780141026909.
19. Rodger, N.A.M. (1997). "Appendix V Admirals and Officials". The safeguard of the sea: a naval history of Britain. Vol 1., 660-1649. London, England: Penguin. ISBN 9780140297249.
20. Townsend, George Henry (1877). The Manual of Dates: A Dictionary of Reference to All the Most Important Events in the History of Mankind to be Found in Authentic Records. London, England: Frederick Warne.
21. Yonge, Charles Duke (1863). The History of the British Navy: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time. London, England: Richard Bentley.

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