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Mon 06 Jun 2007An Irishman's DiaryThe first Wild Geese, about 16,000 Irish soldiers, sailed for France in 1691, under the terms of the Treaty of Limerick, after their defeat at the battles of the Boyne and Aughrim.About 120,000 more followed them during the next 40 years. And their numbers soon swelled into such an exodus that in the 18th century nearly 450,000 Irish soldiers fought for France alone. Thousands more joined other European armies, some of them serving as far away as Mexico and India, where Count Thomas Lally, hero of Fontenoy, commanded the French forces. Three men named Lacy led armies of three countries: General Francis Lacy in Austria, General William Lacy in Spain and Marshal Peter Lacy in Russia.