Medal commemorating the Battle of Aughrim, 1691 (Medal commemorating the Battle of Aughrim 1691)

Medal commemorating the Battle of Aughrim, 1691. This silver medal depicts the English lion trampling on an Irish wolfhound and clawing at a French cockerel. The Irish and French suffered a serious defeat at the hands of King William III’s army at Aughrim, Ireland, in July 1691. The battle was one of the bloodiest fought on Irish soil – over 7,000 men were killed. It marked the end of the Irish Catholic Jacobite resistance to William. The Latin inscription on the medal translates as: ‘Thus with one claw he strikes two. The rebels and the French defeated near Aughrim’. The lion had been a symbol of English royalty since the twelfth century, while the wolfhound was an ancient icon of the Kings of Ireland. The cockerel has long been a symbol of France thanks to its qualities of vigilance, courage and fighting spirit. Originally a royal symbol, the bird became a popular emblem during the French Revolution, but fell out of favour during Napoleon’s reign. He was not convinced that a farmyard animal was a suitable regal emblem and replaced it with an eagle.