The Siege of Athlone 1691
During the war of the Revolution, the town was held for James II. by Col. Richard Grace, an experienced officer, and a garrison, consisting of three regiments of foot, with nine troops of dragoons and two troops of horse in and around it. Immediately after the battle of the Boyne, Lieutenant-General Douglas was sent by William III. to assault the town. Colonel Grace, doubtful of his ability to defend the whole, burnt the eastern portion of it, and breaking down some of the arches of the bridge, fortified himself in the other part; and Douglas, after battering the castle for eight days without success, withdrew his forces in the middle of the night. Towards the midsummer of 1691, the main body of William's army was led to the assault by De Ginkell, who first made himself master of the eastern portion of the town, of which, after the retreat of Douglas, the Irish had taken possession, and had fortified it with additional works.
From the 20th till the 30th of June, a destructive cannonade was kept up across the river by both parties from batteries successively erected; during this period, after expending 12,000 cannon balls, many tons of stone shot, 600 shells, and more than 50 tons of powder, De Ginkell destroyed not only the castle but every house on the Roscommon side of the river. New works, however, were constantly thrown up by the garrison, assisted by the Irish army under St. Ruth, which had encamped at a short distance for the especial defence of the bridge, the passage of which was perseveringly contested with frequent destructive losses to William's army.
On the last day of the siege a council of war was held, when it was resolved to storm the town, and the ringing of the bell of St. Mary's church was appointed as a signal for crossing the river. This was accordingly effected the same evening by the army in three divisions, and such was the simultaneous velocity of their movements, that after half an hour's sanguinary conflict the assailants became masters of the town, which was immediately evacuated by the garrison. A detachment, which had been sent by St. Ruth to oppose them, was repulsed by the victorious army, who turned the guns of the garrison against them; and St. Ruth, on their taking possession of the place, decamped with his forces to Aughrim, fifteen miles distant. During this siege the loss of the defenders amounted to 1200; and their brave commander, Colonel Grace, who had been chamberlain to James II., while Duke of York, and one of his most faithful adherents, was killed in the action.
The English, on taking possession of the town, immediately directed their attention to its restoration and to the repair of its fortifications and works; and it soon became one of the principal military depots for arms, stores, and ammunition. On the 27th of October, 1697, the castle was, during one of the severest storms ever known here, struck by the electric fluid, which set fire to the magazine, in which were 260 barrels of gunpowder, 10,000 hand grenades charged, and a great quantity of match and other combustible stores, the whole of which exploded with so violent a concussion that all the houses in the town, except a few cottages without the gates, were shattered or destroyed: the loss of life, however, was comparatively small, only 7 persons being killed and 36 wounded.