The arrival of thousands1 of Irish jacobite soldiers and officers, along with their families, in France in the aftermath of the 1691 Treaty of Limerick made this influx 'the first modern, mass immigration experienced in France'.2 In the immediate term, the majority of these military and their dependants converged around King James IF s court-in-exile at Louis XIV s castle in Saint-Germain-en Laye outside Paris and joined forces with the French army in opposition to William III. Louis gave James an annual pension of 600,000 French livres on which to live and in his M?moires, James claimed that he managed to 'relieve an infinite number of distressed people, ancient and wounded officers, widows and children of such as had lost their lives in his services'.3 In reality, however, the conditions of the jacobite soldiers and their dependants, which were uncomfort able from the beginning, became extremely difficult after the Peace of Ryswick in 1697 and the ensuing disbanding of the Irish regiments...