#OTD in 1798 – The United Irishmen Rebellion | The Battle of Ovidstown.

A force of 400 troops, with two pieces of artillery, was sent out from Trim on 18 June to locate and destroy the rebel army led by William Aylmer. When Alymer received news of the offensive, he decided to rally his forces and engage the approaching military head-on, choosing to fight at Ovidstown Hill, about […]

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#OTD in 1798 – United Irishmen Rebellion | Battle of Bunclody.

The Battle of Bunclody or Newtownbarry as it was then called, took place on 1 June 1798 when a force of some 5,000 rebels led by Fr Mogue Kearns attacked the garrison at Bunclody as part of the Wexford rebels campaign against border garrisons. The garrison was forewarned of the approaching rebels and had prepared […]

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#OTD in 1798 – The Battle of Oulart Hill | Wexford rebels massacre Kingsborough’s militiamen and yeomanry at Oulart.

The militia reached the village of Oulart on the afternoon of the 27th having refreshed themselves on the way by sacking a suspect’s public house and drinking the contents. Finding a mass of 1,000 rebels occupying the high ground of Oulart hill, they proceeded to burn cabins at the foot of the hill in an […]

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#OTD in 1798 – United Irishmen Rebellion | Battle of Carlow begins; executions of suspected rebels at Carnew and at Dunlavin Green take place.

The Rebellion continues with a number of bloody skirmishes throughout the country involving ill-trained, enthusiastic rebels fighting professional English soldiers. The Battle of Carlow sees an estimated 600 Irish rebels killed with only nominal English casualties. Twenty-eight prisoners are executed by the local garrison in the British army barracks base of Carnew Castle, Co Wicklow […]

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#OTD in 1597 – Death of Fiach MacHugh O’Byrne (Fiach Mac Aodh Ó Broin), Lord of Glenmalure.

Fiach MacHugh O’Bryne (Fiach Mac Aodh ÓBroin) was the son of the chief of the O’Byrnes of the Gabhail Raghnaill. His sept, a minor one, claimed descent from the 11th century King of Leinster, Bran Mac Maolmordha, and was centred at Ballinacor in Glenmalure, a steep valley in the fastness of the Wicklow mountains. Their […]

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#OTD in 1798 – United Irish Rebellion | The Battle of Vinegar Hill (Cath Chnoc Fhíodh na gCaor).

English troops defeat Irish rebels at the Battle of Vinegar Hill, effectively putting an end to the 1798 rebellion. With the rebels scattered in the north, attention shifted once again to those still ‘out’ in Wexford, and the army laid plans to attack their camp at Vinegar Hill. On 21st June, General Gerard Lake attempted […]

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#OTD in 1798 – The United Irishmen Rebellion | The Battle of Ovidstown.

A force of 400 troops, with two pieces of artillery, was sent out from Trim on 18 June to locate and destroy the rebel army led by William Aylmer. When Alymer received news of the offensive, he decided to rally his forces and engage the approaching military head-on, choosing to fight at Ovidstown Hill, about […]

Read More

#OTD in 1798 – United Irishmen Rebellion | Battle of Bunclody.

The Battle of Bunclody or Newtownbarry as it was then called, took place on 1 June 1798 when a force of some 5,000 rebels led by Fr Mogue Kearns attacked the garrison at Bunclody as part of the Wexford rebels campaign against border garrisons. The garrison was forewarned of the approaching rebels and had prepared […]

Read More

#OTD in 1798 – The Battle of Oulart Hill | Wexford rebels massacre Kingsborough’s militiamen and yeomanry at Oulart.

The militia reached the village of Oulart on the afternoon of the 27th having refreshed themselves on the way by sacking a suspect’s public house and drinking the contents. Finding a mass of 1,000 rebels occupying the high ground of Oulart hill, they proceeded to burn cabins at the foot of the hill in an […]

Read More