#OTD in 1650 – Kilkenny surrendered to Oliver Cromwell.

27/03/2019.Reading time 11 minutes.

The success of Oliver Cromwell’s Irish campaign during the autumn of 1649 caused further divisions in the Marquis of Ormond’s Royalist-Confederate coalition. With the defeat of British and Scottish forces in Ulster and the defection of most of Lord Inchiquin’s Protestant troops to the Parliamentarians, Ormond was obliged to rely increasingly upon Catholic support. Early […]

#OTD in 1649 – Sack of Wexford.

11/10/2018.Reading time 7 minutes.

After the fall of Drogheda in September 1649, the Marquis of Ormond retreated to Kilkenny with his remaining forces, abandoning the garrisons of Trim and Dundalk. With the losses sustained at Rathmines and Drogheda, Ormond was unable to muster an army strong enough to challenge Cromwell, which left the north-western approaches to Dublin secure for […]

#OTD in 1649 – Siege of Drogheda ends: The first siege occurred during the Irish Rebellion of 1641, when Phelim O’Neill and the insurgents failed to take the town.

11/09/2018.Reading time 7 minutes.

Drogheda was one of the best-fortified towns in Ireland. The main part of the town was north of the River Boyne, with a smaller district to the south. The two districts were connected by a drawbridge across the river. The town was protected by a circuit of walls four to six feet wide and twenty […]

#OTD in 1647 – The Irish Confederate Wars and Wars of the Three Kingdoms: Battle of Dungan’s Hill – English Parliamentary forces defeat Irish forces.

08/08/2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

After the defeat of King Charles in the English Civil War, the Westminster Parliament turned its attention to the conquest of Ireland. Lenient terms were offered to the Marquis of Ormond for the surrender of Dublin and in June 1647, the first contingents of the New Model Army landed in Ireland under the command of […]