The regiment was formed in 1684 by the Earl of Granard from independent companies in Ireland. As Hamilton's Foot, it served in Flanders during the Nine Years War and at Namur on 31 August 1695, took part in the capture of the Terra Nova earthwork, later commemorated in the song 'The British Grenadiers.' In recognition, of this, William III renamed the unit as The Royal Regiment of Foot of Ireland. Based in Ireland for most of the Seven Years' War, in July 1767 it arrived in North America and spent the next eight years on garrison duty in Philadelphia and different parts of Illinois. When the American War of Independence began in April 1775, most of the unit was in Boston; for the first time in over 50 years, it saw action at Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill. Boston was abandoned in early 1776 and the regiment evacuated to Nova Scotia, where many of its men were drafted into other units, then to Dover Castle in England.