Irish night

The Irish Night was a name given by Londoners to describe the period of hysteria in that city after James II fled from there in the Revolution of 1688.

After James left the city (the first time), on December 11 1688, there was widespread rioting against the residences of ambassadors from Catholic nations, and against the homes and businesses of Catholic Londoners. The hysteria grew when rumors spread that James's Irish army, recently disbanded without their final pay, was converging on London with a plan to sack the Protestant city. The rumors were of the sort that English Protestants had heard for years about Ireland, bloodcurdling and vicious. A fear spread quickly throughout the city.

The militia assembled and the residents of the city barricaded the major streets. Indeed, some bands of Irish soldiers had appeared in the countryside, but they only begged for food and a way to return home, and no acts of violence were reported. The next day (December 13) the rumors were discovered to be false, and the city returned to a state of calm. Although the destruction to Catholics' property was great, none were killed. James returned (against his will) on December 16 to rousing acclaim but soon fled again, this time all the way to France.

References

*Ashley, Maurice, The Glorious Revolution of 1688, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1966, p. 172 ISBN 0-340-00896-2
*Macaulay, Thomas Babington, The History of England, Penguin Books, 1986, see pp. 283-285 ISBN 0-14-043133-0