Out of sixty Jacobite company headquarters and trading houses in Europe in the mid-18th century, two thirds were based in four ports: 12 in Nantes, 9 in Bordeaux, 8 in Cadiz and a dozen in Stockholm and Gothenburg (although these were essentially branch offices).
[2] In 1695, the Bishop of Nantes gave them the use of his residence during the summer, the manoir de la Touche, which was to become a seminary for Irish priests, active until the French Revolution.
The historian Gabriel Audisio notes the presence of Irish Catholic soldiers in the armies of the Duke of Savoy and of the Marquis of Pianezza, which took part in the bloody repression of the Waldensians during the Piedmont Easter.
On 8 June 1694, Irish ships formed the bulk of a fleet of 22 vessels and 1,500 men which left Nantes under Admiral Jean-Baptiste du Casse, heading for Jamaica.
The Irish expatriate community was also notable at Bordeaux, where, from 1715, it developed an important trade in salted beef with Ireland, which was used in supplying merchant fleets and overseas colonies.