On October 3, 1691, the Treaty of Limerick was signed, ending the Williamite war in Ireland between the Jacobites and the forces of William of Orange. The treaty allowed the Jacobite army to withdraw to France, leading to the 'Flight of the Wild Geese,' where some 14,000 Irish soldiers left to serve in continental European armies. The treaty's terms, guaranteeing religious toleration and land rights for Catholics, were soon broken by the Protestant Ascendancy.

The Treaty of Limerick and the Flight of the Wild Geese became powerful themes in Irish poetry, symbolizing the exile of Ireland's martial nobility. The 'Wild Geese' were celebrated in ballads and patriotic verse as symbols of Irish bravery and loyalty to a lost cause. Their story inspired poets like Thomas Moore and later nationalists who saw in their exile a metaphor for Ireland's subjugation.