They had fought a sturdy battle on the Boyne, and had proved themselves a match for William's best troops.

They had decisively repulsed the attacks upon Athlone and Limerick.

Half the troops William had sent to conquer the country had fallen, while their own losses had been comparatively small.
The sole fruit, of all the efforts of William, had been the occupation of the capital--a great advantage, as it gave him a point at which he could pour fresh troops into Ireland, and recommence the war in the spring with new chances of success.

When the British army reached Callan, some of the arrears of pay were distributed among the troops, and the army was then broken up, and the troops went into winter quarters.
William had returned at once to England, and sent over some new lords justices to Dublin.

These were received with delight by the townspeople, who had suffered terribly from the exactions and depredations of the foreign troops quartered there, and were, indeed, almost in a state of starvation, for the country people were afraid to bring in provisions for sale, as they were either plundered of the goods as they approached the city, or robbed of their money as they returned after disposing of them.
As the only possible check to these disorders, the justices raised a body of militia in the town, to cope with the soldiery, and the result was a series of frays which kept the city in a state of alarm.
By the time that Limerick beat off the assault upon its breach, Walter Davenant was quite convalescent.