Enniskillen
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Enniskillen in situated on Cethlin's Island, a strategic crossing point on the southern end of the huge Lough Erne in former County Fermanagh. In the early history Annals of Clonmacnoise it is stated that the island town of Enniskillen took it's name from Cethlen (Kehlen), wife of Balar, chief of the Farmorians, a race which invaded the coasts of Ireland. By the Irish authorities it was always called Inis Cathleen (Cethlin's Island). In Irish Inis Caithlen or Caithlinn. There are many ways of spelling the name and although the standard spelling of the town's name has remained Enniskillen, the name of the regiment started off as Colonel Zachariah Tiffin's Inniskilling Regiment
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Formation of the Regiment
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Zachariah Tiffin was commissioned by William III to raise the regiment on 20th June 1689 for the defence of the town of Enniskillen from the Catholic army of James II. Recruiting was not difficult because independent companies already existed in the area. The regiment fought at the Boyne in July 1690 and Limerick.
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Jacobite Rebellions of 1715 and 1745
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The regiment fought the supporters of James's son and grandson in both Scottish risings. After the first war they were granted permission to display the white horse of Hanover and motto on their appointments. On the second rising they defended Stirling Castle and fought at Falkirk as Blakeney's Regiment. In that battle the young Eyre Coote famously ran away with the Inniskilling's Colours but was later exonerated. At Culloden they fought in the second line but sustained only light casualties.
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The West Indies 1739
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The West Indies was notorious for being an unhealthy place from which few returned. The Inniskillings proved the point when they returned with only nine men out of a strength of 600. Although they fought at Porto Bello, most of their losses were from disease.
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