Laser beams and multilingual guides create eloquent account of fateful day

VISITOR CENTRE: Exhibits with modern flourishes help deliver a stirring history lesson

VISITOR CENTRE:Exhibits with modern flourishes help deliver a stirring history lesson

WHAT THE trio of unelected monarchs involved in the Battle of the Boyne would think of two elected politicians, namely Bertie Ahern and Ian Paisley, opening an Office of Public Works visitor centre in their memory is anyone's guess.

The portraits of William III, his father-in-law James II and France's Louis XIV in the entrance-hall are silent on the subject but the exhibition as a whole gives an eloquent account of events on that fateful day, July 1st, 1690 (July 11th by the modern calendar, although the battle is now commemorated on July 12th).

Maps depict the political geography of Europe at the time and the different routes to the Boyne taken by Kings William and James. Explanatory material is in both English and Irish and the OPW says its guides are proficient in six languages including Ulster-Scots.

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Tents with wax models of the participants convey the mood in the different camps the night before hostilities broke out.

Ironically, the followers of William of Orange wore a sprig of green on their hats whereas the Jacobites on the other side opted for a piece of white paper.

William had 36,000 men and James had 25,000 - the largest number of troops ever deployed in battle in Ireland.

The centrepiece is a model of the battlefield: laser beams indicate the movement of troops and the different stages of the battle. Three overhead screens show re-enactments by costumed actors. A massive reproduction of Jan Wyck's painting of the battle contributes a further dimension - the original is in Malahide Castle.

Dirk Maas was the only artist or painter who was present on the day and his work is also reproduced. The exhibition also features weapons used, including swords, muskets and pistols.

A dragoon officer's carbine presented to the Taoiseach by Dr Paisley at their Boyne rendezvous last May is displayed.

In the fourth and final display room, there is a bronze "English Falcon" cannon (seven feet with a three-inch bore) which has been provided on loan by the Ulster Museum and typifies the type of artillery in use at the time.

In the yard outside there are replicas of cannon and a 17th century howitzer.

A well-appointed tea-room faces onto a walled garden and, after their refreshment, visitors can inspect the actual battlefield where all these events took place.

About 1,500 men were killed on the day. English, Scottish, Irish, Dutch, Danish and Huguenots (French Protestants) made up William's army while James's men were mainly Irish Catholics, reinforced by 6,500 French sent by King Louis XIV.

William's camp was on the north side of the River Boyne; James's was on the south side. William's plan was to trap the Jacobite army in a pincer movement. He sent 10,000 men towards Slane which drew the bulk of the Jacobites upstream. As a result only 6,000 Jacobites were left at Oldbridge to confront 26,000 Williamites. On the eve of the battle, in an exchange of artillery fire, William was slightly wounded in the shoulder.