The following morning we visit the Battle of the Boyne site and in addition to the battle tour, we will examine some of the weapons and horses of the type that were used in the battle. We will lunch at the famous Newgrange centre, one of the foremost sites of Megalithic Europe. A quick visit to the Heritage centre in Drogheda and on to Athlone for dinner and a pint or two. In the morning we visit the famous Athlone Castle and learn about the sieges of Athlone.
Here the Jacobite withstood the first siege in 1690 but in 1691 fell to General Ginkel's assault. An amazing 12,000 cannon rounds were fired during the second siege. Athlone had the dubious distinction of being the most bombed town in Ireland until the Belfast blitz of WW2.
That afternoon we proceed to Aughrim. This was the battlefield where Ginkel defeated St. Ruth in 1691. It was the last great battle in these islands. 45,000 troops were on the field (25,000 Williamites and 20,000 Jacobites).
There were about 9,000 casualties, nearly matching the amount of Allied casualties on D-Day.
After Aughrim we head for the Clarion Hotel, Limerick and the following morning we learn about the siege of Limerick. Then its on to west Cork and visit the site of the siege of Kinsale.

Sun 06 July, and we have a well-deserved rest at the Imperial Hotel, Cork. Anybody who wishes to visit areas of West Cork on Sunday will be facilitated. Sunday night we will have the "end of course" dinner and we will head back to Derry on Monday.

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