Irish Battles

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The Battle of Aughrim
12th July 1691

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Following the defeat at the Boyne in July 1690 the Jacobite Army had retreated behind the line of the river Shannon into Connacht, setting up strongpoints at Sligo, Athlone and Limerick. Here they hoped to receive assistance from France where James II had fled immediately after the Boyne. All of the rest of Ireland including the south coast ports fell under Williamite control by the autumn of 1690 and William himself had returned to England in September leaving the army in Ireland under command of Gen Godert de Ginkel. The Jacobite army was commanded by the French, Charles Chalmont, Marquis de St Ruth.

In June 1691 De Ginkel led a ten day siege of Athlone which he captured on June 30th. In July he led his army of about 20,000 men on to capture Galway. After passing through Ballinasloe his scouts met their Jacobite counterparts from St Ruth's army near Aughrim on the evening of the 11th July. There was a short skirmish before the two sides withdrew.

The Jacobite position at Aughrim was quite strong and gave St. Ruth a marked advantage over the enemy. St Ruth had drawn up his infantry along the crest of a ridge known as Kilcommadan Hill. The Hill extended for a distance of almost two miles from north to south, rising to a height of about 400 feet. In front of the ridge was a bog. At the extreme north end was the village and the Castle of Aughrim, approached by a narrow causeway over the bog. To the south end lay the Pass of Urrachree, guarded by small hills. The ridge was lined with low stone walls and hedgerows which were improved and then used as earthworks for the Jacobite infantry to shelter behind. St. Ruth's main body of infantry manned those heights and trenches commanded by Colonels Dorrington and Hamilton. His left, commanded by Maj-Gen Sheldon, was anchored at Aughrim Castle, which was occupied by a regiment of infantry and two cannon commanded by Col Burke. In addition three regiments of cavalry (Luttrell's, Parker's and Purcell's) were located here. The Jacobite right, commanded by Lt-Gen De Tessé, rested at Urrachree where were placed St. Ruth's best infantry and most of his cavalry (Tyrconnell's, Abercorn's, Sutherland's and Prendergast's regiments) under Patrick Sarsfield. Here he also placed 5 of his guns. The strength of the two armies was about the same, the Williamites had 23,000 men and 24 artillery pieces, the Irish 22,500 men and 10 guns. The Jacobites were in position early on the morning of the 12th, a foggy Sunday. The fog did not lift until noon revealing the Army of King William.

The battle opened with a Williamite assault on the Pass of Urrachree on the Jacobite right. Here, Danish, Dutch and French Huguenot troops commanded by La Melloniere, Tetteau, Nassau, and the Prince of Hesse attacked the weak flank of the Jacobite line. The attack failed after an hour and a half of bloody fighting and the Williamites were forced to take what cover they could to fight off Jacobite counterattacks.

With the attack stalled on their left, Ginkel and his commanders paused to hold council. Maj Gen Mackay proposed an assault on the centre of the Williamite line. 3,000 infantry advanced across the bog in the afternoon under cover of the Williamite batteries in the centre. Pushing up the hill under a steady fire they seemed to be driving the Jacobites back but a Jacobite counterattack drove the Williamites back to the bog.
At 6.30pm 3,000 Williamite infantry advanced once more through the morass under cover of their artillery, and faced the hill in a vigorous attack on the Irish positions there. Again the Irish enticed them on until they were almost at the summit of the hill and then with a lightning counterattack hurled them into the bog once more. In this attack the Williamites suffered a severe reverse losing many officers.

At one place only did the Williamites make any advance that seemed dangerous. A couple of regiments converged, and gained a foothold among some walls and fences near Aughrim Castle. Here the regiment of Col Burke found that their reserve ammmunition was the wrong calibre. The desperate men were compelled to use chopped ram rods and buttons from their tunics as bullets. Eventually the enemy was driven back. Gen Mackay decided to try one last time. He advanced with a body of cavalry along the causeway at Aughrim, where there was room for only a couple of horses riding abreast at the time. St. Ruth watched the advance from his position above, and exclaimed "Pity to see such brave fellows throw away their lives in this way." He sent word to Sarsfield to send up 400 horse but stay on with the remainder, and await further orders. St. Ruth had decided to lead this last charge himself. As he charged down the hill a burst of chain shot decapitated him. St. Ruth's body covered with a trooper's cloak was carried to the rear and buried later in Loughrea.

With St. Ruth dead the Jacobites lost heart. The cavalry fled The Irish infantry under Dorrington, made a stand, but were compelled to fall back in broken formation. At the Bloody Hollow about 2,000 Irish were surrounded and slaughtered. The Williamite Army lost 2,700 dead, the Irish about 5,000, making Aughrim the bloodiest battle ever fought on Irish soil. From a South Tipperary perspective, amongst the dead were Sir John Everard from Fethard and Col. Thomas Butler of Kilcash.

After the battle Galway surrendered within days, leaving Limerick the sole town in Jacobite hands.

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The Battle of Calann

24th July 1261

I have taken this text straight from an online article riginally published in 1961. I'm on holiday at the moment and will edit it when I get home next week.

mccarthy.montana.com/Articles/BattleOfCallann.html

This year marks the 7th centenary of a battle which, though often overlooked in history text-books of the shorter type, proved to be one of the most decisive battles to occur in the first century of Norman occupation and in fact, can be said to have set the pattern of history in south-west Munster for three hundred years.

To understand the causes and effects of the Battle of Callann,1 it will be necessary to review briefly the events of the previous century or more. In the 11th century, the peoples inhabiting south Munster were known by the general term Desmumu, the foremost group being the UÍ Echach (later represented by the O'Mahonys). These were displaced by the leading family of Eoghanacht Caisil, the MacCarthys, who from 1118 A.D. onwards, are represented as kings of Desmumu. The reigning king at the time of the Norman invasion was Dermot MacCarthy, who, in 1171 A.D. came to Waterford to submit to King Henry.

If Dermot,2 in submitting to the 'son of the empress,' did so under the impression that Henry would (in the Irish manner) protect him from powerful neighbours, in particular from Henry's own barons, he was very much mistaken. In 1177 Henry made a grant of Dermot's entire kingdom--which he styled the kingdom of Cork--to two of his leading adventurer knights, Robert fitz Stephen and Milo de Cogan.3 The boundaries of this kingdom were St. Brendan's head on the west, Limerick (i.e. the kingdom of Limerick) on the North, the Blackwater near Lismore on the east, and the sea on the south. Using modern terms, it included all south Kerry with the Dingle peninsula, and all Co. Cork plus a portion of south Limerick4 and west Waterford.

According to Giraldus,5 the grantees took possession of seven cantreds only, three to the east of Cork city going to fitz Stephen and four to the west to de Cogan. The remaining twenty four cantreds they allowed to Mac Carthy at rent. Monastic grants and other documents prove conclusively that the two grantees did take possession of lands east and west of the city; needless to say, their ownership of the remainder of the kingdom was purely nominal. Milo de Cogan was slain in 1182 leaving an only daughter, Margaret, while fitz Stephen left no legitimate heir. Further, it appears that Margaret de Cogan was married three times. All these factors helped to confuse the issue of the inheritance, with the result that when King John came to the throne determined to weaken the power of the Irish barons, he found little difficulty in revoking the entire grant and sequestrating to the crown the kingdom of Cork.6 This he proceeded to parcel out among his loyal subjects. In 1200 he granted Eoghanacht Locha Lé7 to Meyler fitz Henry, to hold of the king 'in capite.' Seven years later Philip de Prendergast and Robert fitz Martin were granted lands east of Cork, David de Rupe got the cantred of Rosselithir, while Richard de Cogan (son of Milo's brother, Richard) got Múscraighe Mittaine, which embraced the present baronies of east and west Muskerry and Barrett's.8 These grantees were, of course, expected to win their lands by the sword; fitz Martin and David de Rupe do not appear to have made any impression, but Richard de Cogan and Philip de Prendergast made various settlements, not without some conflict.

Indeed right from the time of the Norman invasion, constant references to warfare between the invaders and the invaded are to be found in the two Munster compilations, the Annals of Innisfallen9 and Mac Carthaigh's Book.10 In 117311 the Normans under Strongbow plundered Lismore completely. An expedition from Dublin raided north Cork in 1176 and Dermot Mac Carthy made peace with them. The following year came the invasion by Milo de Cogan and fitz Stephen, accompanied incidentally, by 'great warfare between Tuadmumu and Desmumu.' It was this dissension amongst the Gaedhil, and in particular amongst the Mac Carthys themselves, that opened the door to the Norman conquest.

However, Domhnall Mór (son of Dermot) who succeeded his father in 1185, did not yield readily. In 1190 the 'grey foreigners' penetrated as far west as Durrus, but were repulsed by the Desmumu. In 1192 they built many castles 'against the men of Munster.' This system of warfare by incastellation was one which the Irish clans neither practised nor understood. In 1195 Cathal Crobderg, king of Connacht, destroyed many of the Munster castles, but they were soon rebuilt, and Cathal came no more. In 1196 Domhnall Mac Carthy attacked Kilfeakle castle12 and destroyed the castles of Imokilly. These included Dún Cuireda,13 In Cora,14 and Mag Ua Mairgili.15 He also destroyed the castle of Lismore16. This provoked retaliatory attacks, first on Férdruim (in Ivagha), where the foreigners were defeated and repulsed,17 and then on Durrus. Castles were built at Ardpatrick and Askeaton, and in 1199 'there was great warfare by the foreigners against Desmumu, and from the Shannon to Férdruim was devastated as a result.'

So went on the ebb and flow of conquest, until in 1211 an attempt was made, supported by the Normans, to depose Diarmaid son of Domhnall mór, and to put Cormac Liathánach II in his place. Diarmaid appears to have got support from the Galls of Cork, and the attempt was unsuccessful.18 The resulting period of strife, however, gave the Normans the opportunity they had been awaiting. Mac Carthaigh's Book19 states that in A.D. 1214:


A castle was built by Mac Cuidithi in Muinntear Bháire, and one at Dún na mBarc by Carew,20 and another at Ard Tuilithe. Another castle by the son of Thomas21 at Dún Lóith, and one at Killorglin. A castle by Roche at Airbhileach.22 A castle by the son of Maurice23 at Magh Uí Fhlaithimh [Moylahiff]. A castle by the son of Sleimhne24 in Corca Laoighdhe.25 A castle by Barrett in the village above Cuan Dor26 [Glandore]. A castle by Nicholas Buidhe [de Barry] at Timoleague.27 And it was during the war of Diarmaid Dúna Droighnein and Cormac Liathánach that the Galls overran the whole of Munster in every direction, from the Shannon to the sea.
Diarmaid fought back, and in 1219 captured a castle at Timoleague.28 Two years later, Geoffrey de Marisco, the Justiciar, brought a hosting into Desmumu, encamping at Áth na h-Uamha (Athnowen or Ovens), destroying the corn crop of the whole country, and building the castle of Magh Rátha (Murragh). This expedition was probably in aid of Richard de Cogan, who does not seem to have followed up his grant on 1207 until some years later. Muscraighe Mittaine, the subject of his grant, embraced a large area stretching from Ballincollig and Mourne Abbey in the east along both sides of the Lee to the Kerry border in the west. During the period up to the battle of Callann, the Cogans conquered most of this area, building castles at Mourne Abbey, Maglin (near Ballincollig), Dundrinan, (Castlemore near Cookstown), Dooniskey, Mahallagh, and Macroom. About 1242 John de Cogan (Richard's son) had the patronage of the churches of Clondrohid, Matehy, and Kilshannig.29 In 1254-5 A.D., "Muscryemychene" was one of the cantreds to pay a compotum of 40/- so that the county sessions might be held there.30
Diarmaid Mac Carthy remained inimical to the Cogans up to the time of his death in 1229; in fact, Dún Droighnein, the site of a Cogan castle, was the place of his death and the place that gave him his cognomen.

Dissensions which broke out amongst the Mac Carthys in 1232-3 may have contributed to their being routed at Tralee in 1234, where Diarmaid, son of Cormac Liathánach, and two of the O'Driscolls were slain. Cormac had two other sons, both called Domhnall; one was known as Domhnall Ruadh, while the other was called Domhnall Gall--appropriately, seeing that on the death of his father in 1244, he handed over Domhnall Ruadh to the Gaill, represented by John fitz Thomas, who promptly put him to death.

The king of Desmond at this time was Cormac Fionn (Diarmaid's brother), who died in his own encampment at Mashanaglass in 1247. This shows that the Cogans were either unable to eject him from Muskerry or, possibly, that he was on friendly terms with them. Not so Finghin, son of Diarmaid Dúna Droighnein, who in 1248 captured Geoffrey de Cogan and drowned him with a stone tied to his neck. The following year he 'made war and wrought great havoc on the Galls of Desmond.'31 But the Cogans, aided by a new ally, Domhnall Cairbreach MacCarthy, 32 slew Finghin. Two years later this Domhnall was in turn taken prisoner and slain by John fitz Thomas and his son Maurice. This no doubt angered the Cogans, who continued to support the Carbery branch of the MacCarthys, and appear to have given no assistance to the Geraldines in their efforts to overthrow the son of Domhnall Cairbreach at Callann.33

The Geraldines were the most prominent of the Norman families of the invasion period and it was inevitable that they should take an interest in the disposing of Desmond. The Irish Pipe Roll of the 14th year of King John34 (1212-1213 A.D.) lists as owing services for the kingdom of Cork, firstly, Thomas Bloet (who the previous year had married the grand-daughter of Milo de Cogan and paid 500 marks for Milo's inheritance)35 and, secondly, Thomas fitz Maurice (of Shanid) whose claim must have rested on his kinship to Raymond le Gros,36 who was, according to Giraldus, fitz Stephen's heir. The claim was not a strong one, and it was by another means that the Geraldines got their foothold in Desmond. On 3 July 1215, King John granted to Thomas fitz Anthony (the earl marshall's seneschal in Leinster) the guardianship (custodia) of Decies and Desmond with all the escheats therein.37 He also granted him the custody of the lands and heir of Thomas fitz Maurice, as well as the marriage of the heir38 (i.e. John fitz Thomas) whom we later find, not surprisingly, married to one of fitz Anthony's daughters. As fitz Anthony had no son, his inheritance descended to his five daughters, one of whom died unmarried, while the four others had as husbands Gerald de Rupe (head of the Roches), Geoffrey de Norrach, Stephen de Archedecne, and John fitz Thomas.39

Was it, in fact, this grant to fitz Anthony which led to the incastellation of Desmond quoted above from Mac Carthaigh's Book?40 At least three of the castle-builders there mentioned may have been sons-in-law of fitz Anthony, namely (John) fitz Thomas, (Gerald) Roche, and Mac Cuidithe, a puzzling name which Orpen41 surmises to have been an early form of Mac Odo, i.e. (Stephen) Archdeacon.

It was easy, in the confused circumstances of the inheritance of the kingdom of Cork, to treat the 'custodia' as if it were a complete grand of ownership. This fitz Anthony and his sons-in-law proceeded to do, aided and abetted by the then Justiciar, Geoffrey de Marisco (who was married to the widow of fitz Thomas' uncle),42 with the result that in 1223 a new Justiciar was ordered to take into the king's hand the 'custodia' of Cork, Decies, and Desmond, as fitz Anthony was treating escheats there as his own, instead of the king's, property.43

Fitz Anthony appears to have been let off on this occasion, but four years later a similar order was given and carried out.44 The new custodian, Richard de Burgh, found so much land alienated by fitz Anthony that there remained not enough to pay the services due to the king.45 Yet fitz Anthony's claims were still recognised. In 1229 de Burgh was allowed 125 of the 250 marks which he yearly rendered the king out of the lands of Thomas fitz Anthony seized by the king's order.46 On fitz Anthony's death in the same year, de Burgh received a mandate to take into the king's hand all lands whereof Thomas fitz Anthony was seised at his death;47 the following year the heirs complained that the justiciar was still distraining them for the debt on fitz Anthony's lands, though they held no part of them.48 Probably by then his sons-in-law were so firmly entrenched that it was impracticable to dislodge them. In 1237, the justiciar was directed that if the lands of Decies and Desmond, which belonged to Thomas fitz Anthony, were in the king's hand, he should not distrain Stephen le Archdekne (son-in-law to Thomas) for debts due by Thomas to the king.49

But John fitz Thomas was the one who came to the forefront in these dealings. In 1244 he was granted free chase and warren in Okonyl, Muskry, Kery, Yomach, and Orathat50 while in 1251 he was granted £25 a year in compensation for his portion of Decies.51

What happened next is incidentally related in an inquisition on the lands of John de Prendergast of Ardnesylach, A.D. 1278.52 It appears that three of fitz Anthony's sons-in-law--Gerald, Geoffrey, and Stephen--opposed the king in the war of Kildare53 and could not therefore obtain pardon for their lands; but John fitz Thomas sided with the king. He afterwards crossed over twice or three times to Lord Edward seeking all the lands for 500 (marks or pounds) per annum. Finally (in 1259) Edward enfeoffed John for that rent,54 but Stephen de Longespée, then justiciar of Ireland, saying that John had deceived Lord Edward, refused to give him seisin. John thereupon proceeded to take possession without the justiciar's consent; after that the barons of the exchequer refused to accept rent for the lands 'because he never had seisin by the said justiciary or other bailiffs of the Lord Edward in Ireland.'

In the event, John's hard-won charter was to prove his death-warrant, leading, as it did, to a new onslaught on the MacCarthys, culminating in the battle of Callann. Already, in 1252, he had slain Domhnall Got Cairbreach (ally of the Cogans) who had taken the kingship of Desmond after the death of his brother, Cormac Fionn. But Domhnall's eldest son, Finghin, was to emerge as an even more troublesome opponent. First (in 1253) he attacked Geoffrey O'Donoghue, whose wife (Sadhbh O'Brien) was suspected of having betrayed Domhnall Got to fitz Thomas. Both Geoffrey and Sadhbh, as well as others of the family, were slain. Next (1258), he attacked and slew several of the O'Mahonys. In 1260 he raided Ciarraighe (Luachra) at the head of the Desmumu, 'and great conflagrations were there caused by them.' The same year Eoghan O Muircheartaigh was slain by foreigners at Dún na mBarc; Mac Carthy avenged his death the year after by burning not alone Dún na mBarc, but also Dún Uabhair,55 Caisleán na Gidhi,56 and Innishannon.

It was clear to fitz Thomas that if these insolent forays were not suppressed his grant would be valueless. But, having antagonised the forces of officialdom in Ireland, he stood little chance of being aided by the king's army in his assault on Desmond. Fortunately for him, Stephen de Longespée died in 1260, being replaced as justiciar by William de Dene. The new justiciar must have been better disposed towards John and his ambitions, as it did not take long to induce him to lead the feudal forces into Desmond. To obviate objections on the score of finance, fitz Thomas and other barons of Desmond underwrote the expenses involved.57

The Munster Geraldines formed the backbone of the expedition,58 headed by the redoubtable John fitz Thomas and his son, Maurice fitz John. Another of the Norman leaders was 'the son of Richard,'59--probably Walter de Burgo, lord of Connacht and later earl of Ulster, whose father's highly-successful Connacht invasion of 1235 fitz Thomas no doubt expected to emulate. Of the Irish, they had Domhnall Ruadh, a son of Cormac Fionn and a strong claimant to the kingship of Desmond; he had with him 'all the Irish he could get.'60

But Finghin Mac Carthy had learned much from his opponents during his years of conflict, while he had the added advantage of knowing intimately the territory over which he fought. At Callann he chose his battleground, at a spot where a mountainy river called the Slaheny joins the Ruachtach,61 close by the castle of Ardtully. No doubt he reckoned that here the heavily-armoured cavalry of the invader could be used to the least advantage.

Battle was then62 joined and Finghin mac Domhnaill mhic Charthaigh emerged victorious.

Unfortunately no details of the conflict, --apart from the names of those slain--are available. Incidentally, the fullest account of the battle is given, not by the Munster annals, but by the Annals of Loch Ce and Annals of Connacht:


A.D. 1261. A great war and numerous injuries were committed in this year by Finghin, son of Domhnall Mac Carthaigh and his brothers, against the foreigners. There was a great hosting by the Geraldines into Desmond to attack Mac Carthy, but it was Mac Carthy attacked them, and defeated them. There were killed there the son of Thomas (John was his own name), his son, and fifteen knights along with them. Eight good barons were also slain with many squires and soldiers (sersénaigh) innumerable.63
The loss of the head of the Munster Geraldines and his heir64 was not the most grievous blow the Normans suffered. Worse still was the loss of prestige occasioned by the magnitude and conclusiveness of the defeat itself. Little wonder that it marked a turning-point in their fortunes. In the early days of the conquest, their heavily-armed professional soldiers had but to show themselves to strike terror into the hearts of the natives, as did John de Courcy's men when the Ulaidh assembled to attack them at Downpatrick in 1178.65 Indeed, only the year before Callann, another crushing defeat at Downpatrick drew the following poetic lament:
Unequal they came to the battle,
The foreigners and the race of Tara,
Fine linen shirts on the race of Conn,
The foreigners one mass of iron.66


Now, however, Finghin Mac Carthy's lightly-clad Gaedhil had proved themselves the equals of the Normans in battle. The resulting uplift to their morale made itself felt immediately. At the head of the Desmumu, Finghin swept eastwards and northwards through Desmond, burning the Norman strongholds of Dún Mic Oghmainn,67 Dún Uisce,68 Macroom, Magh Oiligh,69 Dunloe, and Killorglin, as well as much of the land of Uí Chonaill.70

'Fasighi imdha i nNessumin' (many wastes in Desmond) the Annals of Innisfallen commented briefly. Not even the Cogan lands in Muskerry escaped, for at least three of the castles mentioned, --Dún Uisce, Macroom, and Magh Oiligh--were on the territory of the Cogans. Finghin spared nobody in his determined efforts to clear everyone of Norman descent out of the once extensive kingdom of his great-grandfather, Dermot Mac Carthy.

He over-reached himself, however. Penetrating eastwards as far as Kinsale, he presented himself before de Courcy's stronghold of Ringrone. Alarmed at his reputation Miles de Courcy offered terms, which Finghin, flushed with victory, rejected. Whereupon Miles, who was a grandson of Milo de Cogan, and probably of John de Courcy as well, marched his full body of troops to Bearnach Reanna Róin71 and there defeated the Irish on the Thursday after Michaelmas. Finghin and many of the nobles of Desmond being slain.72

Thus fell the great Finghin, ever afterwards described as Finghin Reanna Róin.73 After his death his brother, Cormac, took over the chieftainship. Had Finghin been alive, it is unlikely that the new justiciar, Richard de la Rochelle would have been allowed to land at Dún na long and depart unmolested.74 Cormac waited for the next year to show his prowess, when another large expedition headed by Walter de Burgo75 invaded Desmond, presumably to avenge the defeat of Callann. The following is the account given in the Annals of Innisfallen (1262 A.D.):


Mac William de Burgo accompanied by a great army of foreigners and Gaedhil invaded Desmumu, and Cormac Mac Carthaigh was slain by them after a victory of prowess and valour. For he himself unaided, slew Gerald Roche,76 a great and noble knight, and another good squire, and no others of the Desmumu fell save he, although many of the (enemy) army were slain. Nevertheless, some of the Clann Charthaigh gave hostages to Mac William and he left the country.
The account in the Annals of Loch Cé differs slightly from the above:

A.D. 1262. A hosting by Mac William Burk and the foreigners of Erin to Desmumha to attack Mac Carthaigh, until they reached the Mangartach of Loch Léin, where Gerald Roche was slain by Mac Carthaigh; and it was said that he was the third best baron in Ireland. And this was the joy with sorrow to Desmumha, for the son of Domhnall Got Mac Carthaigh, i.e. Cormac, son of Domhnall, was slain on that same day; and the foreigners and the Gaedhil suffered great losses on that day around the Mangartach.77
From these accounts it would seem that while Cormac failed to match Finghin's exploits, the Normans gained little advantage either. It is significant that references to attacks on Desmond scarcely occur at all after 1262.78 It is to this period that Hanmer's often-quoted account refers:79

The Carties plaied the Divells in Desmond, where they burned, spoiled, preyed, and slue many an innocent; they became so strong, and prevailed so mightily that for the space (so it is reported) of twelve yeeres the Desmonds durst not but plow in ground in his owne country.
With the fall of Dunloe and Killorglin, following on the death of fitz Thomas and his heir, the unprotected Geraldine lands in Kerry (i.e. Ciarraighe Luachra) as well as in Desmond were so pillaged that when young Thomas, son of Maurice, came of age in 1282, their value had greatly depreciated.
The inquisition then taken80 relates that John fitz Thomas died seised of 3½ cantreds in Decies, also of shrievalty and sergeancy of Cork and Kerry. He had lands in Acumkery (i.e. Trughanacmy) in the Co. of Kerry, held of Sir Milo de Curcy for the service of two knights. These lands used to be worth £150 in the time of John, but were now worth only £50,81 besides the thirds of the Lady Matilda de Barry, who was the wife of Maurice fitz John, the greater part of which is destroyed by the war of the Irish. He had three carucates at Ogenathy Donechud (i.e. Eoghanacht Uí Dhomhchadha), wont to be worth in time of peace 40 marks, now worth nothing, for they all lie in the power of the Irish, ½ carucate at Corleleye82 of Robert fitz Stephen, worth formerly 40 marks, now 10, as nearly the whole has been destroyed by the war of the Irish; Clonlathtyn and Dromynargyn formerly worth 10 marks, now worth nothing.

A similar state of affairs prevailed in the Cogan lands of Muskerry, as the following account of them, taken in 1281 while the lands were in ward of the king, shows:83


He answers nothing for the lands which Richard de Cogan held in Forgus84 and Stedryth, and for the lands which John Heydrun and the heir of William Russell hold in the manor of Mora (i.e. Mourne Abbey) and for the lands of Clonehyt85 of Dundreynan, and the manor of Newcastle, because they were waste on account of the war of the Irish.
Attempts at subduing the Mac Carthys were of little avail. James de Audley (justiciar from 1270 to 1272) led an expedition against Irish rebels in Desmond86; no results were announced. The Annals of Innisfallen (A.D. 1271) tell us: "A hosting by the foreigners of Ireland into Desmumu to Dún na mBarc, and they turned back from there without doing any further damage."
In 1280 the Mac Carthys of Carbery (then headed by Domhnall óg son of Domhnall Mael) made peace with the main branch of the family, whose king was Domhnall Ruadh mac Carthy,87 and they apportioned Desmond amongst themselves. They then united to drive out the foreigner. Killorglin was burned and its castle razed. 'And great forays were made there and people slain.' The Normans then evacuated Dunloe, which was promptly burned.88

The truce was a brief one. Three years later, Domhnall Ruadh, on the pretext of a plot against himself, made a hosting against the MacCarthys of Carbery. He brought with him the principle foreigners of Ireland, Thomas de Clare, Maurice fitz Maurice, Thomas fitz Maurice (head of the Munster Geraldines), John de Barry, Roches, Condons, etc. They plundered and scattered the men of Carbery.89

Still Domhnall óg (Cairbreach) remained a thorn in the side of the Norman interests. In 1295 he was plundering as far east as Kinalea, having already burned Macloneigh.90 Two years later, he slew John de Courcy, probably to avenge his uncle's death at the hands of Miles de Courcy. When Hubert de Courcy tried to bring Domhnall to justice, the sheriff reported that Domhnall would not submit to justice, and a few months later, that he 'was among the Irish in waste land where no sergeant or bailiff of the king dared to go to attack him.'91

He also gets frequent mention with regard to fines for transgressions, paying £68 on one occasion through John de Cogan.92 That the traditional friendship still existed between the MacCarthys of Carbery and the Cogans is shown by the fact that John de Cogan was a pledge for the appearance of Domhnall óg Cairbreach at a parley concerning restitution to John de Barry.93

As for Domhnall Ruadh, he was now apparently regarded as an independent prince, able to call upon the assistance of Norman barons, and in a position to treat directly with the king. He did not exist in a state of semi-outlawry as did Domhnall óg. In 1284, 'Donald Rufus MacCarthy, lord of the Irish of Desmond' wrote to King Edward vehemently desiring to be subjected to his domination, and sending Brother Walter of Kilkenny as intermediary.94 this overture must have resulted from the coming of age of Thomas fitz Maurice who renewed his claim to the lands of his grandfather (John of Callann). Domhnall followed up his letter with a visit to England in order to safeguard his position.95

Trouble arose again, however, for the expense sheet of the archbishop of Dublin when keeper of Ireland (1288-1290) mentions that when news came that 'Donald Roche' and other Irishmen began to be hostile soon after the justiciar's death, an expedition was deemed necessary. But the route taken led in a straight line from Cork to Limerick (via Mourne Abbey and Buttevant), while a second expedition travelled via Clonmel, Ardfinnan, Castlelyons, Cork and Waterford. The Archbishop must have made some kind of treaty with Domhnall as he got a fine of 50 marks from him.96 Similar fines for transgressions and for having peace were obtained in 1296 from Donald Roth, Finin, Donald óg, and Donat Dermot Feynyn.97

Nevertheless, the decay of Norman rule could not be stopped, and the Mac Carthys were now firmly established as lords of south Kerry and west Cork.98 The Cogans gradually lost their power and lands in Muskerry,--as much from the attacks of Geraldines and Barretts99 as from the encroachments of the Mac Carthys. In the 14th century the viceroys Lionel and Rokeby made efforts to recover Cogan lands from the Mac Carthys in east Muskerry,100 but in 1398 the Mac Carthys were not alone free to plunder from Dingle to the territory of the Barretts, but could carry on their ancient feud against the Carbery Mac Carthys at Carrigrohane, practically at the gates of Cork city.101

As for the Geraldines, though Thomas fitz Maurice did succeed in getting a re-grant of this grandfather's lands in 1292,102 yet their overlordship of the Mac Carthys was but in name, while the rent which they claimed has almost always to be exacted by force. Their exactions being as forcefully resisted, there ensued many bloody conflicts over "the earl's beeves," as well as--despite occasional intermarriages--a bitter enmity, which came to an end only with the fall of the Geraldine house of Desmond in 1582. And then, by the turn of history's wheel, the MacCarthys fought on the side of, and the Fitzgeralds as rebels against, the crown.

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The Battle of Rathmines
2nd August 1649

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The Battle of Rathmines took place near Dublin on 2nd August 1649. At that time Dublin was one of only two places in Ireland occupied by an English Parliamentary Garrison (the other was Derry). Parliament had lately been the victor in the English Civil War and had executed King Charles I in January. English Royalists in Ireland had proclaimed Charles Stuart as King Charles II in Kinsale and then negotiated an alliance with the Catholic Confederacy which had been in rebellion since 1641. The Confederate armies were commanded by James Butler, Duke of Ormond.

In July Ormond moved his army, 11,000 strong towards Dublin and began occupying it’s outlying villages. The city was of course, far smaller 350 years ago. Ormond took Rathfarnham Castle, Baggotsrath Castle (where Baggot Bridge is today) and Rathgar, where they set up camp in Palmerston Park.

The garrison at Baggotsrath was attacked by the Parliamentary forces commanded by Col Michael Jones on August 2nd and fell back on their camp in Rathgar. The Confederates hadn’t been expecting the Parliamentarians to leave the city and were not in battle formation. Ormond and his commanders committed small forces to battle as a delaying tactic until they could get their main body of troops prepared. Jones’ cavalry however simply outflanked each group and sent them fleeing in disarray in their turn, adding to the confusion. Eventually a large force under Lord Inchquin set up a determined rearguard action and allowed the survivors to retreat. The battle was a disaster for the Royalist cause. They lost 3,000 men killed and another 2000 captured. In addition they lost their artillery and baggage trains. More importantly the victory secured a landing port for the army of Oliver Cromwell which landed at Ringsend on August 15th from a fleet of 35 ships filled with troops and equipment. Henry Ireton landed two days later with a further 77 ships.

The Bleeding Horse is a pub in Camden St. Legend has it that a wounded horse walked into the tavern on the site during the battle.

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The Battle of Dungan’s Hill

8th August 1647

In June 1647, fresh from it’s victory in the English Civil War, the Westminster Parliament turned its attention to the reconquest of Ireland which had been in rebellion since 1641 and which was under the control of either Irish or Royalist rebels. The first contingents of the New Model Army landed in Ireland under the command of Colonel Michael Jones. Lenient terms were offered to the Marquis of Ormond for the surrender of Dublin and the city was handed over to Jones on 19th June.

At the beginning of August 1647, Jones left Dublin with 4,000 Infantry and 800 Cavalry to raise the siege of Trim. The Confederate Leinster army under General Preston, besieging the town, lifted their siege and withdrew across the River Boyne, apparently intending to march on Dublin. Preston's force had a strength of 7,000 foot, 1,000 horse and four pieces of artillery. They made slow progress and had advanced no more than ten miles south of Trim when they met Jones’ men, who had been joined on the march by government troops from Drogheda and Dundalk, bringing his army up to around 5,000 foot, 1,500 horse and two field guns.

On August 8th Preston took up a strong defensive position on Dungan's Hill near the modern village of Summerhill, Co. Meath. He deployed his cavalry along a narrow lane to the right of the main body of infantry, apparently intending to charge the Parliamentarians as they formed up at the bottom of the hill where the lane opened out into fields. A reserve of seven troops of horse was posted behind the infantry, which stood in a large cornfield protected by ridges and embankments. On the left of the regular infantry was a force of 800 Gaelic Scots, known as "Redshanks", with skirmishers posted in front of the infantry lines. Further to the left, the Confederate flank was protected by a bog.

When Jones approached the Confederate position at about 10 am he ordered his cavalry to attack immediately, without waiting for the infantry to deploy. The Parliamentarians reached the opening of the lane first, trapping the Confederate cavalry on Preston's right flank. After suffering a number of casualties, the Confederate cavalry broke through the hedgerow to escape to the comparative safety of the cornfield, but as they did so, they disrupted the formations of infantry in the field. In the ensuing panic, the cavalry was unable to regroup and the reserve fled in confusion.

With the routing of his cavalry, Preston was forced onto the defensive. As the Parliamentarian infantry advanced, the Redshanks charged downhill. They were beaten off but regrouped and made two more desperate charges. With no discernible movement among the main body of Confederate infantry, Jones concentrated his attack on the Redshanks, who broke through the ranks of the advancing Parliamentarians and made their escape into the bog on the Confederate left flank. After holding off several Parliamentarian assaults, the Confederate infantry began to break formation and attempted to follow the Highlanders by escaping into the bog. With no cavalry to challenge them, and with the Confederate infantry in full flight, Jones’ horse was able to ride down the fleeing men. Parliamentarian losses were light but at least 3,000 Confederates were killed in the battle and ensuing pursuit. The battle spelled the end of the Leinster army.

The Confederate Supreme Council ordered Owen Roe O’Neill to deploy his men from Connacht to recover Leinster. However, O'Neill's troops mutinied due to lack of pay. By the time order was restored Jones and Monck in Ulster consolidated Parliament’s hold on Leinster by capturing and garrisoning strategic strongpoints around Dublin and in northern Leinster. In November, O'Neill advanced with 8,000 men to within ten miles of Dublin, but heavy rains had turned the roads to mud, making it impossible for him to bring artillery to recover the lost positions. He was forced to withdraw when his supplies ran out.

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The Siege of Limerick 1690

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After the Battle of the Boyne the Jacobite Army abandoned all of Ireland save Connaught, withdrawing behind the line of the River Shannon. Limerick was the principal port still in Jacobite hands through which supplies and reinforcements could come from France. In order to complete the conquest of Ireland the Williamites would have to take Limerick. The advance guard of the Williamite army arrived outside Limerick on 8th August 1690. William had sent part of his force back to England and had been obliged to leave garrisons in many of the towns captured since the Boyne, which meant that by the time he arrived before Limerick his army had been reduced to about 25,000 men.
Initially, William's army seized the high ground at Singland, astride the present Dublin and Ballysimon roads, about half a mile from the east wall of the Irishtown. Jacobite picquets and the garrison of an old Cromwellian fort which had been built by Ireton during the siege of 1651 were soon pushed back to the main defences of the city. As soon as the Jacobites had withdrawn, the Irish artillery, mounted on the walls, opened up on the Williamite forces, which drew their encampment back to safer ground.
Having established his camp, William sent a trumpeter to summon the garrison to surrender, but in answer got back a refusal from the commander Maj-Gen Boisseleau. William now disposed his forces for a regular siege. With only 25,000 men available to him, he did not consider his army large enough to invest the city on all sides. He decided therefore to concentrate his attack on the Irish town. Accordingly, artillery positions were sided opposite the south-eastern part of the city , while the infantry began digging a network of trenches to enable them to approach the walls under cover. While his infantry made preparations for the siege, Williams awaited the arrival of his heavy artillery from Dublin.
On 10th August news of the expected arrival of the siege train reached the Limerick garrison through a Williamite deserter. Patrick Sarsfield, on a visit from the cavalry camp in Clare, at once determined to make an effort to intercept the guns and destroy them. However, with William's army encamped between Limerick and the approaching siege train, Sarsfield realised that he would have to make a large detour in order to successfully execute his plan. Thus having requisitioned a force of 500 cavalry, and with a local rapparree named Hogan acting as guide, Sarsfield proceeded up the Clare side of the Shannon, and under cover of darkness crossed the river above Killaloe. The raiding party camped that night near Keeper Hill, and the following morning continued on towards the point of interception at Ballyneety, about two miles south-west of Oola, County Tipperary. The Williamites were completely surprised when the attack went in that night and the waggoners and their escort were quickly overwhelmed. Unfortunately, in the heat of the attack, a number of non-combatants, including some women and children, also fell victim to Sarsfield men. However, this was the only blemish on this brilliantly conceived and daringly executed operation. Two of the eight guns of the siege train were completely destroyed, while the other six had their carriages wrecked. A large quantity of ammunition was also lost along with other supplies, including a number of tin boats which would have been used as bridging material
The destruction of the Williamite siege train was a great morale-booster for the garrison of Limerick. It raised Sarsfield's stature to new heights with the army, and provided further justification for those in favour of continuing the war. More practically, it delayed William's preparations for an assault on the city, as it was another five days before the guns which were salvaged at Ballyneety finally arrived at the siege camp.
After a week dominated by artillery exchanges, the siege began in earnest on 17th August. William's plan was to push the Irish back from their outer defences, while at the same time silencing their guns in preparation for mass assault on a breach which his artillery would make in the walls. In line with this policy the Williamites launched a series of attacks over the next few days on the forts protecting the south-eastern approaches to the Irish town walls. By 20th August they had forced the defenders from three forts and taken advantage of their success to move the siege artillery closer to the walls. It only remained for the guns to effect a breach and the way would be clear for an infantry assault on the city. In order to achieve this objective William concentrated the greater part of his firepower on the section of the walls which crossed what is now the New Road. Under an intense and prolonged bombardment the wall gradually began to disintegrate, and by the afternoon of 27th August it had been breached to a width of about thirty yards.
At 2.30 p.m. the discharge to three artillery pieces gave the signal to attack. The object of the initial assault was the counterscarp, or earthwork ridge, protecting the trench before the walls. Once the Irish had been driven from this forward position the way would be clear for a mass attack on the breach itself. To effect the initial phase of the assault William had summoned all of his grenadiers - about 500 men. At the signal, they leaped from their trenches and launched a furious attack on the counter scarp. The Irish, defenders in the trench - or 'covered way' as it was called - were quickly forced to retreat. The grenadiers, believing the Irish to be routed now overstepped their orders, and instead of holding the ground already won while reinforcements came up, they followed the retreating Irish through the breach and into the city. Boisseleau was prepared for just such an eventuality, and had built another defensive line inside the wall, covering the breach. Thus the unfortunate grenadiers were met with a withering fire from cannon and musket, and those that survived were soon clambering back the way they had entered. Meanwhile the main attacking force, consisting of five regiments of infantry, had come up in support. Once again the Williamites poured through the breach and a furious hand-to-hand struggle ensued. During the height of the fighting, the ammunition store of the Black Battery (an Irish artillery position on the corner of the wall close to the breach) exploded, inflicting severe casualties on Williams' Brandenburg regiment. After more than three hours of hard fighting the Williamites were finally flung from the breach and forced to abandon all of their earlier gains. It was during this bloody engagement that one of the more celebrated incidents of the siege reputedly took place, when the women of Limerick are said to have joined with their menfolk in repelling the invaders from the city, using as their weapons stones and bottles which they hurled from the walls at the retreating Williamites.
The battle of the breach, as it might be called, was the decisive turning-point in the first siege of Limerick. In terms of casualties it was a costly day for William his losses have been variously estimated ,but a figure of 1,500 killed, in addition to the wounded, is probably not too far out. Irish casualties were much less, and may have been about 300 killed. Notwithstanding their losses, some of William's commanders were for renewing the assault on the following day, but with his ammunition supplies nearly expended, William deemed it prudent to raise the siege and send the army into winter quarters. He had to take into account too the unpredictability of the weather with autumn approaching fast, and the fact that, with the ground getting heavy, it might not be possible to withdraw the artillery in the event of another failed assault. Thus, three days after the battle of the breach, the Williamites struck camp and began a slow withdrawal towards Tipperary. William did not remain with his army long. Early in September he sailed from Waterford and returned to England, leaving command of the army with Count Solmes, who in turn handed it over to the Dutch general, Ginkel.

[groundhog]

The Bruce Wars

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Edward Bruce landed in Ireland on 26th May 1315 with a force of 6,000 men. Edward was the younger brother of Robert Bruce, recently crowned King of Scots. The Bruces (de Brus or De Bruys) were of Norman descent although, as in Ireland, the Scottish Normans were quick to inter-marry with the locals. Mama Bruce was a Scottish noblewoman, Marjorie (or Margaret), Countess of Carrick. In Hollywood History, Robert Bruce was a Scottish patriot and disciple of William Wallace who battled against the odds to expel the English from Scotland and regain Scottish independence. In reality he once fought for Edward Longshanks and changed sides in a Scottish Civil War that would see him become King of Scotland on March 25th 1306, having murdered the previous incumbent in a church. So far so good, but the Scottish wars didn’t end there and the Bruces spent the next decade fighting to retain the throne.

Meanwhile over in Ireland things were no better. The Normans had been running the show for nearly 150 years, squeezing the Old Irish lords from their land though it should not be thought that the Old Irish were in any way united in opposition to the Normans. Far from it. Such was the disunity amongt the Irish that many Gaelic Chiefs were active allies of the Normans and they had been unable to agree on a High King for over 200 years . So in 1315 some Irish Lords, primarily Donal O’Neill, Prince of Tyrone, with the connivance of the Norman De Lacys and Bissetts sent word to Robert Bruce inviting him to send his brother Edward to be High King of Ireland. Robert was only too delighted to get rid of his popular brother and at the same time get the English fighting on two fronts. In early June 1315 O’Neill and about a dozen Irish Chiefs swore fealty to Bruce as High King of Ireland. A month later Bruce and his allies moved south through the Moyry Pass into Leinster. However they didn’t advance any further that the Louth/Armagh/Monaghan border area before meeting two Norman forces, one commanded by Richard Óg de Burgh, Earl of Ulster who had been supported by Phelim O’Connor of Galway and another led by Sir Edmund Butler of Ormonde formed from men of Leinster and Munster. After some brief skirmishing Bruce beat a retreat back into Ulster followedby De Burgh who was not without problems. Phelim O’Connor had been forced to return home to fight an incipient rebellion and Butler ran out of supplies and withdrew back south. De Burgh gave battle at Tawnybrack (or Connor) near Ballymena on September 10th, but was soundly defeated. Following Tawnybrack, Bruce moved south again into Meath and won another victory in early November at Kells. Bruce wintered in the area of Kells and allowed his army to pillage any land not belonging to his allies. So great was the devastation that he caused that a famine ravaged the country. The Bruce did not endear himself to the majority of the Irish people of the time.

He won another victory in Kildare over the Butlers in January 1316 and it all looked fair for him to set about conquering the rest of Ireland. His campaign looked unstoppable until the weather intervened. The spring and summer seasons of 1315-17 were unusually wet and cold throughout Europe. Crops failed and famine ensued. Add this to Bruce’s practice of pillaging and looting and the famine was exacerbated so that his army began to starve along with the peasants. Unable to campaign effectively further afield Edward was mostly confined to the north east of the country. On the political side the Irish Kings appealed to the Pope in 1317 to recognise Edward as High King of Ireland. You’ll recall that the King of England had been appointed King of Ireland by Pope Adrian IV in 1155, which authorised the Norman invasion. Adrian himself of course was coincidentally English. Pope John XXII refused to recognise Edward’s Kingship so outside of his allies nobody else did either.

1318 saw an improvement in conditions and Edward again advanced south during the summer. He was met in battle at Faughart near Dundalk in October by a combined force of commanded by John de Bermingham, Edmund Butler and Roland Joyce, Archbishop of Armagh. The Scots advanced piecemeal and were soundly defeated, Edward himself died near the end of the battle. His head was sent to King Edward II in England and his four quarters were displayed in various parts of Ireland. His death went unlamented in Ireland where it was said of him that he was the common ruin of the Gaels and Galls of Ireland...never was a better deed done for the Irish than this...For in this Bruce's time, for three years and a half, falsehood and famine and homicide filled the country, and undoubtedly men ate each other in Ireland

[groundhog]

Second Battle of Athenry

10th August 1316

The Second Battle of Athenry was fought on 10th August 1316 as part of the Bruce Wars. Edward himself wasn’t present and the battle was more about control of Connaught than who was King of Ireland.

You’ll recall that Phelim O’Connor (Felim mac Aedh Ua Conchobair), King of Connaught marched against the Scots with Richard Óg de Burgh in the summer of 1315 but was forced to return to Connaught to deal with a local rebellion. This rebellion was led by Phelim’s cousin Rory (Ruaidhri mac Cathal Ó Conchobair) who seized the Kingship of Connaught. At the same time an ally, Tadhg Ó Cellaigh deposed his brother Gilbert as King of Uí Máine in modern day Co. Galway. The new Kings proceeded to raid and plunder in the areas they had just seized. However in February 1316 Phelim, aided by the De Berminghams, seized back the Kingship of Connaught and killed Rory. Tadhg was forced to submit and swear loyalty to Phelim. Phelim now switched sides and allied himself with Edward Bruce, presumably in the hope of driving the Normans out of Connaught, restoring his family’s former glory and having a shot at the High Kingship himself.

To put down that little rebellion De Burgh sent his cousin Sir William Liath de Burgh against the O’Connor/Kelly alliance. Sir William had been captured the previous autumn at Tawnybrack and had just been ransomed. Alongside his Norman followers were Scottish mercenariesand Irish allies, including Muirceartach O’Brian of Thomond. The two sides met at Athenry on a hill east of the town on Monday 10th August. Not a lot is known of the battle, in common with many Medieval Irish battles. However we know that the Normans won and that Phelim O’Connor was killed in the battle. Tadhg Kelly escaped the battle and hid in the woods with a servant where he was discovered that evening by an official from the town and beheaded. The heads of the two Kings were mounted over the gates of Athenry. The Seal of Athenry depicts the heads of the two men mounted over the town gates.

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The Battle of the Yellow Ford

14th August 1598

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Fought on the 14th August 1598 as part of the Irish Nine Years War.

4000 English troops, many of whom were in fact Irish, marched from Armagh under the command of Henry Bagenal to relieve a fort on the River Blackwater. Opposing the English were the forces of Hugh O’Neill, Hugh O’Donnell and Hugh Maguire. In addition to the Irish troops there were also Scottish mercenaries and Spanish military advisers. The English line of march was a road through hilly, wooded terrain, with boggy valleys. To add to their problems the Irish had dug trenches across the road and thrown up breastworks along it.

As soon as the march from Armagh began, the Irish started a series of ambushes on the English troops. They became disorganised and contact was lost between groups as they halted to fight off an ambush. An artillery piece became bogged down and the group trying to free it was left behind and the powder wagon blew up when it was ignited by a matchlock fuse. At this point Bagenal was killed by a ball to the head. In the confusion, Irish horse and infantry charged the head of the column which had reached the Yellow Ford and cut them to pieces. The column then turned around and fought its way back to Armagh which was promptly besieged by the Irish. After two days the English evacuated to Dublin.

English casualties were approximately 2000. The Irish lost 200 killed and 600 wounded.

[groundhog]

The Nine Years War

The Nine Years War lasted from 1594 to 1603 and represented a last ditch attempt by the old Gaelic Chieftains, primarily in Ulster, to maintain their ancient kingdoms and roll back the spread of English rule.
After the final defeat of the Desmonds in Munster, English attention turned to the north of the country where the Tudors proposed a provincial presidency and plantation. They began nibbling away at territory from 1591 annexing the MacMahon territory in Monaghan, the O’Reillys in Cavan and the O’Farrell territory in Longford. The biggest lordships were of course those of the O’Neills in Tyrone, the O’Donnells in Donegal and the Maguires in Fermanagh.

The Lord of Tyrconnell and The O’Donnell was Red Hugh O’Donnell. He was an enemy of England since his teens having been kidnapped by the English and held as hostage in Dublin Castle for five years. He escaped in 1592 with the assistance of Hugh O’Neill and the O’Byrnes of Wicklow. His father abdicated in his favour in 1593 and Hugh set about waging war on Turlough O’Neill to force his abdication in favour of his friend Hugh. In 1594 he set about his life’s work, waging war on the English.

By contrast Hugh O’Neill had been raised in the Pale and was regarded as friendly to the English, a view he cultivated in order to be made Earl of Tyrone by Queen Elizabeth and in the hope of gaining the post of President of Ulster in the new administration. His alliance with the O’Donnells was a well kept secret at this stage and also his contacts through them with King Philip of Spain. By 1595 however O’Neill gave up on negotiations with the English and openly joined O’Donnell in rebellion against the Crown.

The first few years of the war went well for the Ulstermen but they were essentially fighting alone. Few of the southern chieftains joined them and the weight of numbers began to tell in favour of the English. Despite spectacular successes at Clontibret, Yellow Ford and Curlew Pass, the English began to push into Ulster, laying waste to the countryside to starve the rebels of men and food. Some of the chieftains rivals defected to the English exacerbating matters and the last throw of the dice was the Spanish landing at Kinsale. O’Neill and O’Donnell joined them there but were defeated by Mountjoy in January 1602. O’Donnell fled to Spain where he died in September. O’Neill and his allies retreated to Ulster where they held out until March 1603 when they surrendered with surprisingly generous terms under the Treaty of Mellifont.

[groundhog]

The First Battle of the Curlew Pass

15th August 1599

Fought on the 15th August 1599 as part of the Irish Nine Years War.

Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex took over as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in April 1599. His mission was to subdue the rebellion of the Ulster chiefs, now in it’s sixth year. As part of the mission he encouraged one of the Irish Chieftains loyal to the Crown, Donogh O’Connor of Sligo, to push the O’Donnells back out of those parts of his territory they had occupied and strike north to Ballyshannon as a preliminary to an invasion of western Ulster.

To assist in this invasion a force was despatched from Galway to Sligo commanded by Tibbot na Long Burke. Hugh O’Donnell launched a pre-emptive attack and besieged O’Connor in Collooney Castle, sending 600 men to occupy Sligo town to prevent the English landing. Essex then ordered a force north from Athlone commanded by Conyers Clifford to relieve Collooney Castle.

Getting word of the English advance O’Donnell left 300 men besieging the castle and marched south with 1500 troops to Dunavaragh, Co. Roscommon. Here he was joined by a small number of reinforcements under Conor MacDermott and Brian Óg O'Rourke. Ambush sites were prepared at two passes through the Curlew Mountains, along the English line of march. O’Donnell had trees felled and placed along the road to impede the English progress. As soon as the enemy passed through Boyle and headed for the western pass, O’Donnell positioned his troops. Musketeers, archers and javelin men were placed in the woods alongside the road to harass the English while the main body of infantry, armed with pikes and axes, were placed out of sight behind a mountain ridge.

Meanwhile Clifford’s troops had reached the mountains at 4pm on 15th August. Rather than rest in Boyle, Clifford, believing the pass undefended, decided to press on and cross the mountain that evening. They reached the first barricade between Boyle and Ballinafad where they were attacked by the Irish soldiers. The Irish fired one volley and withdrew but as soon as the English had crossed the barricade they came under immediate harrassing fire from the woods to the side of the road. As they advanced the fire became heavier and heavier until at last the English halted and engaged in a firefight lasting an hour and a half before they ran out of powder. At that moment O’Rourke and his men, who had been stationed at the eastern pass, arrived to reinforce the Irish soldiers. The English broke and fled at this point, although their leader, Alexander Radcliffe, died leading a pike charge against the Irish.

The retreating soldiers crashed into the main body of English troops causing mayhem in the ranks whereupon the Irish, concealed behind the hill, charged them. In the ensuing melee, the English commander, Clifford, was piked to death. The English fled in disarray, a complete rout being averted by an uphill cavalry charge led by Sir Griffin Markham and his cousin John Harrington. The English were pursued back to Boyle where they sought sanctuary in Boyle Abbey. In all they lost 500 men dead. Clifford’s head was hacked from his body and Hugh O’Donnell brought it back to Collooney Castle to encourage O’Connor to surrender, which he did. In addition O’Connor defected from the English camp. With the north west invasion route closed, Essex was left with the option of forcing his way into Ulster through the north east. Instead he agreed a truce with O’Neill and returned to England where he was later tried for treason and executed. His failure in Ireland did not lead directly to his fall from grace but it didn’t help.

The Curlew Pass was the scene of a second Irish victory in August 1602.

[groundhog]

The First Battle of Athenry

15th August 1249

The First Battle of Athenry was fought aspart of the Norman conquest of Ireland. Athenry at this time was little more than a military outpost.

On the day in question several sons of various Irish Lords seem to have taken it into their heads to raid the place, led by Turlough O'Connor and his brother Hugh. Unfortuately for them the Sheriff was literally in town in the shape of Jordan de Exeter, Sheriff of Connacht. The Normans sought a truce it being the Feast of the Assumption but the Irish wouldn't have it. The Normans gave battle before the town and routed the Irish killing many of them. According to the Annals of the Four Maters; Of their chiefs were here killed Hugh, son of Hugh O'Conor; Dermot Roe, son of Cormac O'Melaghlin, the two sons of O'Kelly; Brian an Doire, the son of Manus; Carragh Inshiubhail, son of Niall O'Conor; Boethius Mac Egan; the two sons of Loughlin O'Conor; Donnell, son of Cormac Mac Dermot; Finnanach Mac Branan; Cumumhan Mac Cassarly, and others besides

The Annal also blamed the defeat on the Virgin Mary who sided with Jordan on the day. De Exeter incidentally gave us the family name Jordan, rendered into Irish as Mac Síurtáin.

[groundhog]

The Battle of Knockdoe

19th August 1504

One of the burial cairns atop Knockdoe

The Battle of Knockdoe was fought on 19th August 1504. It had no real significance as it was basically a personal feud between medieval warlords but it was one of the bloodiest battles in Irish history. The fight was between the Gearóid Mór Fitzgerald, who happened to be the King's Deputy, and Ulick Burke, a troublesome and ambitious minor noble from Clanrickarde, south Galway. Burke or De Burgo wanted to establish himself as lord of all of Connaught. He had attacked and destroyed castles of the O'Kellys - Lords of Ui Maine, in Monivea, Garbally and Castleblakeney. In addition, Ulick, as Earls will, was living with O'Kelly's wife while at the same time married to Fitzgerald’s daughter, Eustacia. Gearóid Mór was not happy.

Siding with Fitzgerald were some of the leading families of Ulster, Leinster and Connaught- O’Donnells. O’Connors and MacDermotts and the Burkes of Mayo, another branch of the De Burgo family. All joined forces with the Earl of Kildare to put manners on Ulick. Burke had the support of the chiefs of Munster, the O’Briens of Thomond, MacNamaras, Kennedys and Carrolls. The last two being names in my own family tree. We could never pick a winner. Scottish mercenaries fought on both sides. These lads used battle axes as their main weapon which may have given the hill on which the battle was fought it’s name, Cnoc Tuagh, the Hill of the Axes. In all there were about 10,000 participants, with Burke outnumbered 3 to 2. For the times there were huge casualties on both sides- 1500 of Burke’s men died while 1000 died on the Fitzgerald side. The battle lasted all day ending in a victory for the Fitzgeralds. Next day they moved on to Galway, looting Claregalway Castle en route and taking hostage two sons and a daughter of Burke.

The Burkes of Clanrickard faded into obscurity for decades after the battle. Around the summit of Knockdoe are many cairns where the dead of the battle are buried. One mound is reputed to be the graves of the two sons of O’Brien of Thomond. Some sources say this was the first battle in Irish history where gunpowder was used.

Some background

macdonnellofleinster.org/page_4c.htm

[groundhog]

Béal na Bláth

22nd August 1922

Béal na Bláth was an ambush that nearly didn’t happen. It’s probably the most famous event in Ireland after the 1916 Rising, a tribute in itself to the only man to die in this battle, who was of course Michael Collins.

Collins was on a tour of Cork when he passed through the village of Béal na Bláth on his way to Bandon on the morning of August 22nd 1922. The local IRA commander, Liam Deasy decided to lay an ambush on the road in case the convoy returned by the same route. The ambush was set up on a bend in the road south of the village about noon. The road was blocked with a brewery cart and a mine, consisting of a metal box of gelignite, laid in the road. The ambush party had a strength of about 25 men but 10 of them left the ambush site in the afternoon. About 7pm Deasy returned to the ambush site from his HQ and ordered the ambush commander Tom Hales to pull out as they thought the convoy would not return at this stage. Most of the men were ordered to withdraw north along the road while one section covered the ambush site from Position A on the map. Two men dug up the mine and a small group dismantled the barricade.

Collins convoy left Bandon about 7 pm also. The convoy consisted of a motor cycle out-rider in front, a Crossley tender with a party of troops in the back as escort, then Collins car with a driver, Collins himself and Emmet Dalton. In the rear was an armoured car. At about 7.30 pm, as they neared the ambush site the covering party opened fire more to warn those on the road than anything else. A few seconds later the convoy passed a small group at Position B (part of the covering party) who opened fire on the convoy from a range of 35 yards. Collins, Dalton and the driver of the car took cover behind an earth bank and returned fire. They were joined by Captain Dolan who had been riding on the back of the armoured car.

The troops in the Crossley dismounted and began to return fire on the men in the boreen who had now been joined by the two men who had been dismantling the mine. These men immediately withdrew along Walsh’s Lane. Collins and his group with the armoured cars machine gun pinned down the dozen men behind the stone wall at Position B. After firing 400 rounds the MG jammed and this group also withdrew along Walsh’s Lane. This action took about 20 minutes. By this time Collins had moved behind the armoured car from where he fired occasionally at the withdrawing IRA men. He then moved a further 15 yards along the earth bank out of sight of his comrades. Dalton moved towards his position when he heard firing cease from there and found Collins lying dead in a firing position.

The troops almost immediately loaded the body of their dead commander and another wounded officer into the car and the convoy moved to the village of Crookstown where they stopped and demanded of a local man that he bring them to a priest and a doctor. The man brought the convoy to Cloughduve Church where the curate Fr. Murphy gave Collins absolution. The convoy then spent all night making its way to Cork city, sometimes cross country because the IRA had trenched the roads and blown the bridges. From Cork Collins was brought by sea to Dublin where he was buried in Glasnevin cemetery.

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Battle of Glenmalure

Co. Wicklow

25th August 1580

The Battle of Glenmalure has its roots in the Desmond Rebellions. Back in February 1565 a battle was fought at Affane, Co. Waterford between the forces of the Butlers of Ormonde and the Fitzgeralds of Desmond. Affane was a continuation of the centuries-old power struggle between the Norman families. The only problem was that Queen Elizabeth was having none of it and she summoned both Earls to London to answer charges. Ormonde got away with it because he was related to the Queen but Desmond got slung in the Tower because he wasn’t. Back in Munster the man in charge was Desmond’s Warlord- James FitzMaurice Fitzgerald. For James his relatives getting locked up was the final nail in the coffin of the Tudor conquest of Munster. For 30 years the Tudors had been working to subdue the powerful Lords in Ireland and were whittling away at their land and power. By the 1560s a lad named Sir Peter Carew was making claims on land in the south of the country based on documents granting land to his ancestors by Henry II. Add in a little religious antagonism and Fitzgerald was sending envoys to Spain and plotting a rebellion. James enlisted the aid of other disgruntled Irish and Norman chiefs and began attacking English settlements in Cork, Kerry and Limerick. His rebellion was quickly brought to an end although guerrilla fighting went on from 1569 to 1574. Fitzgerald negotiated a pardon for himself and went into exile in Spain while Desmond got released from the Tower to restore stability to his territory. All was not well in Ireland however the government was still clamping down by executing ex rebels among the Irish clans while laws had been introduced to quell the power of the Irish lords. Over in Spain Fitzgerald managed to get the Pope onside and with a small army of Spanish and Italian troops, landed in Kerry in July 1579. The landing ignited the flames of rebellion once more and John, the Earl of Desmond’s brother joined in, taking command on the death of Fitzgerald in August.
Over to Wicklow where two young men had recently inherited titles from their fathers. James FitzEustace became Viscount Baltinglass in 1579 while Fiach McHugh O’Byrne took over his sept of the O’Byrnes. While he wasn’t chief of the O’Byrnes, Fiach was the most powerful of the military leaders in the Clan. Motivated by the same reasons as the Fitzgeralds, Baltinglass and the O’Byrnes rose in rebellion. As luck would have it a new Lord Deputy, Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton, had been sent over from England with 6,000 men, tasked with putting down the rebellion in Munster. On his way south he decided to deal with the O’Byrnes.

Fiach McHugh’s stronghold was located at Balinacor in the Glenmalure Valley in the Wicklow Mountains. Lord Grey having arrived at the entrance to Glenmalure constructed a strong earthwork at the mouth of the valley to stop any Irish from escaping. All being in readiness, Lord Grey ordered his troops to advance up Glenmalure while he and his staff took positions on high ground commanding a full view up the valley. The valley however was rough going, full of boulders, fallen timber and with a river running down it. The English soldiers found it heavy going. Then the Irish sprang an ambush from the wooded valley sides and the soldiers fled down the valley. Meanwhile Grey sent the reserve forward and the two groups became entangled on the valley floor at which point the Irish launched a wild charge and theEnglsih army broke and ran leaving 800 dead in Glenmalure.

Fiach McHugh surrendered to the English on favourable terms the following year. For another sixteen years he continued raiding the Pale and aiding rebels against the Crown. It was to O’Byrnes country that Red Hugh O’Donnell fled on his escape from Dublin Castle in 1592. Fiach’s luck ran out on 8th May 1597 when he was trapped at Fananieran near Glenmalure by English soldiers and beheaded. Baltinglass went into exile in Spain after the surrender and died there in 1585. His title was attainted after the surrender and many of his relatives were executed.

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Siege of Limerick 1691

25th August - 23rd September 1691

1691 was a black year for the Irish Jacobites. At the start of the campaigning season Godert de Ginkel, the Williamite commander, decided to force the line of the River Shannon. He captured Athlone and brought the Jacobite Army to battle at Aughrim where they were decisively beaten with heavy losses. Soon after that Galway fell, leaving Limerick as the last Jacobite position in Ireland. In addition, the Jacobite commander, General St Ruth, a Frenchman of high calibre appointed in May, was killed at Aughrim, the Earl of Tyrconnell died suddenly of suspected poisoning and Brigadier Henry Luttrell was court martialled for corresponding with the enemy. The portents did not bode well when Ginkel arrived before the walls of Limerick on August 25th 1691.

All was not ideal for Ginkel either. He commanded fewer men that King William had, 12 months previously. The defences of Limerick had been strengthened, the breach of 1690 closed and the summer was drawing to a close. If the siege became a protracted one, his men would suffer in the open through an Irish autumn and winter while the roads would be impassable.

The second siege of Limerick also started on the Irishtown side of the city. Once again the Irish did not defend their outlying positions with any great enthusiasm. By the end of day one the defenders were driven back behind the city walls. The Williamites began to set up camp, this time further to the west near the Shannon where they were close to an English fleet in the river. From this position the Englishtown could also be bombarded. The siege artillery arrived on August 26th but it took 4 days to get a battery into place where it began to bombard Thomond Bridge and King John’s Castle. In the meantime the infantry had been busy building a defensive line from Singland ridge to the Shannon. The bombardment went on for a fortnight, with the artillery concentrating on the Irishtown. However Ginkel, with fresh memories of the slaughter in the breach of 1690, made no move to take the city by storm.

In the first week of September Ginkel switched operations to the walls of the Englishtown, having received information that the walls facing the Abbey River were not strong. A battery was placed across the river north of present-day O'Dwyer Bridge by the 8th of September. This battery was made up of 24-pound and 18-pound siege guns plus some heavy mortars as well. Within a few hours it had made a breach in the Englishtown wall where it skirted the present-day Island Road. The Williamites began to assemble boats to be used to transport an assault force across the river. On the night of the 9th of September a raiding party crossed over from King's Island and destroyed many of them. The artillery continued to bombard the wall and within two days the breach had been widened to about forty yards. No attempt was made to assault the breach though, Ginkel being conscious of the difficulties and dangers involved in an attack across water on a defended breach.
On the evening to 15th of September a large party of Williamites began constructing a pontoon bridge at Lanahrone just upstream of the present-day Athlunkard Bridge. By morning the bridge was completed and the Williamites had crossed over to secure the Clare bank. The Irish cavalry made no attempt to stop the Williamites until it was too late. The Williamites were now in a position to blockade Limerick. However, Ginkel was hopeful that this might not be necessary and that the garrison might be induced to surrender. Consequently on 16th September he offered generous surrender terms to the garrison to be accepted within eight days.

Ginkel however didn’t wait for a reply. The following day he decided to exploit the bridgehead on the north bank. This strategy was not without danger, as the Irish could switch their infantry from one end of Limerick to the other in a short space of time, and could sally forth from the town to attack weak points in the siege line. Ginkel took elaborate precautions to counter this threat and the field defences facing the Irishtown were strengthened, with an artillery battery established near Singland where it could cover a sally from John's Gate. By 22nd September Ginkel’s preparations for an attack across the Shannon were complete, including moving the pontoon bridge about half a mile downstream.

Ginkel committed 10 regiments of infantry to the attack as well as most of his cavalry and dragoons. By the afternoon of September 22nd this force had crossed into Clare, swung left around the bend of the Shannon and made its way towards the Irish outer defences covering the approaches to ThomondBridge. Despite being reinforced from the city the Irish were forced back after a sharp fight. The defenders fled towards Thomond Bridge and the safety of the Englishtown. Unfortunately, the Williamite pursuit was so close that the French officer in command of the drawbridge was compelled to raise it lest the Williamites enter the city. A large number of Irish were trapped on the bridge and slaughtered. Those who were not butchered by the Wiliamites were forced into the river. The Irish lost about 600 men of whom about a quarter were drowned.

That night the Garrison commanders decided to surrender amidst much acrimony between the Irish and the French. On September 23rd the two sides agreed a truce and negotiated the Treaty of Limerick which was signed on 3rd October 1691. The last of the Jacobites sailed from Limerick at the end of October bringing an end to what was virtually a century of warfare in Ireland.