In 1690, Mulhuddart Graveyard in County Dublin was the site of a brutal and little-remembered massacre said to have taken place in the aftermath of the Battle of the Boyne. According to local tradition, more than eighty Williamite soldiers were killed here after retreating from the battlefield.

The soldiers, commanded by Colonel Foulke (sometimes recorded locally as “Foulkes”), were reportedly attempting to escape the chaos of the Boyne and sought shelter from a violent storm in the now-ruined medieval church within the graveyard. Exhausted, drenched, and believing themselves safely hidden, they settled in for the night.

What they did not know was that Mulhuddart was firmly Jacobite territory, loyal to the Catholic King James II. A spy, noticing the unusual activity around the church, alerted the local Jacobite supporters. Under cover of darkness and storm, a surprise assault was launched on the sleeping Williamite encampment.

The attack was swift and merciless. According to the legend, every soldier in the church was slaughtered, and their bodies left among the gravestones. No formal burial is recorded, and some say their remains still lie somewhere beneath the soil.

To this day, Mulhuddart Graveyard is said to carry the echoes of that night. Visitors have reported shadowy figures, the sound of heavy boots on gravel, and murmured voices drifting through the ruined church. Some claim to see spectral soldiers standing guard among the tombs — the restless dead of a forgotten skirmish, doomed to haunt the place where they fell.