Following King James' defeat at the Battle of the Boyne, at the start of the campaign of 1691, Sir James Cotter was made Brigadier General in command of all the Jacobite forces in counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary. Cotter won two clashes with the Williamite forces but was ultimately defeated in the Battle of Bottlehill, at Ballymagooly near Mallow, on 29 April 1691. During the time of his military and civil authority Sir James Cotter treated the Protestant landowners well, not allowing his troops to despoil their property or for acts of reprisal to occur. He was rewarded for his moderation when, following the surrender of the Jacobite forces under the Treaty of Limerick, the support of his Protestant neighbours allowed him to retain his property and lands in full, despite legal attempts to force his forfeiture. Later life In the last years of his life, he was regarded as the natural leader of the Catholic community of Cork; he devoted time and resources to patronising Irish literature and protecting Roman Catholic clergy, including John Sleyne Bishop of Cork and Cloyne, from the authorities. Following his death in 1705 he was buried in his family's burial vault at Carrigtwohill, a vault he had built to hold his father's remains. Cultural significance Sir James Cotter was, in the style of previous generations of Irish chieftains, a great patron of poetry and other writings in the Irish language, with many poems about, or dedicated to, the Cotters by poets such as Dáibhí Ó Bruadair, Uilliam Mac Cairteáin, Uilliam Ruadh Mac Coitir (a fellow Cotter), Seán Clárach Mac Domhnaill and Éamonn do Vál surviving. Domhnall Ó Colmáin included much biographical material concerning Sir James Cotter in his tract Párliament na mBan. Family Sir James Cotter married twice. His first marriage, to Mary daughter of Sir William Stapleton, was without issue; his second wife was Ellen Plunkett daughter of Matthew, 7th Lord Louth. His eldest son, James, inherited his wealth and patronage of the Catholic population of Cork, but not his moderation or astute political instinct and ended his life on the gallows as a Jacobite supporter. His other children were: Laurence, Mary, Alice and Monica. He is the patrilinear ancestor of the Cotter baronets of Rockforest in County Cork. Notes Works cited Ó Cuív, B. (1959) James Cotter, a Seventeenth-Century Agent of the Crown. The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries