ABSTRACT
Ireland was not an independent kingdom, so London in the end would decide the outcome of the political debate regarding the Treaty of Limerick. Political power in Ireland was vested in the Church of Ireland gentry, who were the descendants of the successive groups of English settlers who had been granted the forfeited land of the Irish Catholics after their risings against Elizabeth I and the English Long Parliament had failed. William's hope that he would be able to use English troops against France on the Continent straight away did not materialise, as Louis XIV decided to send James to Ireland. As German Emperor Leopold I devout Catholic he decided to support the Irish Catholics, and as William III and Leopold I were allies against France, Irish politics this time influenced William's foreign policy with regard to the Ge.
