Bastille Day event brings a scent of revolution to the city

The Wild Geese monument at Merchants Quay.

THERE will be a scent of revolution in the Limerick air this weekend when the city celebratesย Bastille Day and its historic โ€˜Wild Geeseโ€™ links with France at King Johnโ€™s Castle on Sunday, July 14.

The Limerick celebration will feature free family entertainment, a free tour of the castle, displays in the courtyard, musical performances and a historical talk on โ€˜The Flight of the Wild Geeseโ€™.

Members of the public, and particularly those from the French community living in Limerick, are invited to the Castle for a four-hour programme of events that will includeย a parade of En Garde, dressed as 18th-century soldiers of the Lรฉgion Irlandaise. They will be joined by members of the French Foreign Legion Association of Ireland and members of the Irish Defence Forces as well as Limerickโ€™s Boherbuoy Band.

A talk by Cornelius Oโ€™Sullivan, President of En Garde, on the history of the Wild Geese and their impact on the shared history of France and Ireland will be followed by a gun salute by En Garde members.

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Mayor Michael Sheahan said that one of his priorities was to honour theย Limerickย diaspora and he had called for a โ€˜Wild Geese Festivalโ€™ to remember them and their contribution.

โ€œIโ€™m delighted that, together with the new Honorary Consul of France in Limerick, a special celebration around Bastille Day is taking place. Limerick and France have many ties, the Wild Geese among them, and itโ€™s great that we are beginning to look at and celebrate this connection.โ€œ

Newly appointed Honorary Consul of France Loรฏc Guyon said the event will symbolise โ€œan annual celebration of the long-lasting friendship between our two nations.โ€

โ€œThe Flight of the Wild Geese brought our two countries closer than ever before, with so many Irish men and women settling in France and, for many of them, integrating into French society in very successful ways.

โ€œThe fact that the Limerick Wild Geese Festival will be scheduled every year on the Sunday of or immediately preceding Bastille Day is highly symbolic. This yearโ€™s event will only be a small-scale version of what we are hoping to organise from next year onwards but should already be a very special and enjoyable experience for allโ€.

Shannon Heritage managing director Niall Oโ€™Callaghan said that, as operators of King Johnโ€™s Castle, they were delighted to be associated with an event that strengthened Franco-Hibernian relations and showed how the castle was embedded in Limerickโ€™s history.

Registration for Limerickโ€™s Bastille Day celebration takes place at 1pm at the entrance to King Johnโ€™s Castle.


THE WILD GEESE

The term โ€˜Wild Geeseโ€™ had been used to describe those Irish serving in European armies since the 16th century. The historical episode known as the โ€˜Flight of the Wild Geeseโ€™ refers to the 12,000 Irish Jacobite soldiers, commanded by Patrick Sarsfield, who left Ireland for France as agreed in the Treaty of Limerick in 1691 ending the Williamite War in Ireland. The Wild Geese formed King Jamesโ€™s army in exile but by 1692 were incorporated into the French Army.