Events Leading to The Battle Of The Boyne.

1677 Protestant William Of Orange ( the grandson of King Charles I) married Mary, the eldest daughter of King James VII of Scotland (the future Catholic King of England known as James II).
Mary herself was of Protestant faith, (although her father was a Catholic) and the mainly Protestant English, were quite expectant of William and Mary's eventual accession to the English throne.

1685 Protestant King Charles II of England died, without a legitimate son as heir to the English throne.
Catholic King James VII of Scotland, brother of King Charles II, now became next in line to the English throne. (James VII of Scotland now also held the title King James II of England and united both the thrones of Scotland and England as King).
The English however, would only accept Mary’s father to be a Catholic King James II of England, as a temporary, stop gap measure only.
The bitter problems arose, when James II unexpectedly had a son ( and therefore a new heir to the throne, to eventually become known as Catholic Bonnie Prince Charlie of Scotland).

1688 The so called 'Glorious Revolution' ended the reign of Catholic King James II, who fled to Europe and sought the aid of French King Louis XIV to regain his throne.
William And Mary were invited by the English to share the throne in place of Mary’s father.

What was The Glorious Revolution?

It was a bill of Rights that was passed in 1689. Items included in the bill, were that here could be no longer be a Roman Catholic King or Queen of Britain. Also that Political supremacy was now to be the right of Parliament only. The bill also stated for the first time that English citizens possessed both civic and political rights.
The bill was called The Glorious Revolution as it had been passed without bloodshed and made constitutional history in Britain ( even today, Britain does not hold a written final Constitution, as does the likes of young America).
William Of Orange and Mary accepted this bill of rights and were then allowed to ascend the throne.

1689 James II landed in Ireland (where Jacobite Catholic support for him was strong) with the aid of French troops of King Louis XIV. The Catholic French King himself, had planned to dominate Europe and supported the Jacobite cause in re-installing Catholic James II as King of Britain and to oust the new Protestant British King William of Orange and Queen Mary.
James II was given a large degree of support and soon became in control of most of Ireland, with the exception of the important towns of Derry and Enniskillen in the North of the country.

1690 The Battle of the Boyne ended the hopes of King James II. His army was defeated and destroyed. He returned to the safety of France and would not again set foot on British soil. However, his son, Charles Edward Stuart, better known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, would eventually travel to Scotland and with Jacobite support there, would attempt seize the kingdom for his father.
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The victory of Protestant King William of Orange and Mary over Catholic James II led to the brutal surpression of Pro-Catholic Jacobite citizens in Ireland (as it also did in Scotland after the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie). The following enforced divisions of faith from this battle between both Protestant and Catholic citizens was allowed to fester, to prevent further rebellions. But through eventually ingrained resentments on both sides, this has lead to tension, even in your today's, enlightened human world.