RAPPAREE

any of the Irish nationalists who employed guerrilla methods to resist the English after the regular Irish army had surrendered in the war (168991) in Ireland. They were termed rapparees after their weapons, short pikes (Irish: rpaire). The elusiveness of the rapparees confounded the British for a time, but superior forces, plus Britain's ability to insulate Ireland from foreign, particularly French, support, ended the insurgency.