Battle of Kilmacrennan | |||||||
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Part of O'Doherty's Rebellion | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Kingdom of Ireland | Rebels | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Sir Richard Wingfield | Sir Cahir O'Doherty † | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Unknown | 1,000 |
The Battle of Kilmacrennan was a skirmish fought near Kilmacrennan, County Donegal in 1608 during O'Doherty's Rebellion. Sir Cahir O'Doherty was a traditional supporter of the Crown whose treatment at the hands of local officials had led him to launch a rebellion in which he had seized the garrison town of Derry, killing his enemy George Paulet. O'Doherty raised local forces and possibly hoped to negotiate an agreement with the government as had been common with leaders of previous rebellions. [1]
However, the Viceroy in Dublin, Arthur Chichester, responded quickly and despatched reinforcements to the area under Richard Wingfield. They were a mixture of professional soldiers of the Royal Irish Army and Gaelic warriors allied to the government. They met the rebels at Kilmacrennan and O'Doherty was killed by a musket shot to the head. His troops' morale collapsed and they fled the field. A £500 bounty had been placed on O'Doherty and, while a number of outlandish legends exist about the fate of his severed head, a reward was given to an infantry soldier John Trendor by the Dublin government. [2] With O'Doherty's death, the rebellion quickly collapsed, the final forces retreating to Tory Island, where they were successfully besieged.
Niall Garve O'Donnell was an Irish nobleman and soldier, alternately a rebel against and ally of English rule in Ireland. He is best known for siding with the English against his kinsman Hugh Roe O'Donnell during the Nine Years' War.
The Nine Years' War, sometimes called Tyrone's Rebellion, took place in Ireland from 1593 to 1603. It was fought between an Irish confederation—led mainly by Hugh O'Neill of Tyrone and Hugh Roe O'Donnell of Tyrconnell—against English rule in Ireland, and was a response to the ongoing Tudor conquest of Ireland. The war began in Ulster and northern Connacht, but eventually engulfed the entire island. The Irish alliance won numerous victories against the English forces in Ireland, such as the Battle of Clontibret (1595) and the Battle of the Yellow Ford (1598), but the English won a pivotal victory against the alliance and their Spanish allies in the siege of Kinsale (1601–02). The war ended with the Treaty of Mellifont (1603). Many of the defeated northern lords left Ireland to seek support for a new uprising in the Flight of the Earls (1607), never to return. This marked the end of Gaelic Ireland and created the groundwork for the foundation of the Plantation of Ulster.
Joseph O'Doherty was an Irish teacher, barrister, revolutionary, politician, county manager, member of the First Dáil and of the Irish Free State Seanad.
Sir Cahir O'Doherty was the last Gaelic Chief of the Name of Clan O'Doherty and Lord of Inishowen, in what is now County Donegal. O'Doherty was a noted loyalist during Tyrone's Rebellion and became known as the Queen's O'Doherty for his service on the Crown's side during the fighting.
Kilmacrennan, also Kilmacrenan, is a village, townland and civil parish in County Donegal, Ireland. The village population was 753, as of the 2016 census. The village's population has increased steadily over the last decade with many new housing developments catering, in particular, for an overspill population from Letterkenny. Kilmacrennan was historically the caput of its eponymous Barony of Kilmacrennan, of the eight Baronies of Donegal.
Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester, of Carrickfergus in Ireland, was an English administrator and soldier who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1605 to 1616. He was instrumental in the development and expansion of Belfast, now Northern Ireland's capital. Several streets are named in honour of himself and his nephew and heir Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall, including Chichester Street and the adjoining Donegall Place, site of the Belfast City Hall.
Events from the year 1608 in Ireland.
Sir George Paulet (1553–1608), also known as Pawlett, Pawlet, or Powlet, was an English soldier and administrator. He served as governor of Derry in Ireland. His arrogant and insolent behaviour caused O'Doherty's Rebellion in 1608. Paulet was killed by the rebels during the Burning of Derry.
O'Doherty's Rebellion, also called O'Dogherty's Revolt, was an uprising against the Crown authorities in western Ulster, Ireland. Sir Cahir O'Doherty, lord of Inishowen, a Gaelic chieftain, had been a supporter of the Crown during the Nine Years' War (1593–1603), but angered at his treatment by Sir George Paulet, governor of Derry, he attacked and burned Derry in April 1608. O'Doherty was defeated and killed in the Battle of Kilmacrennan in July. The rebellion ended with the surrender of the last die-hards at the Siege of Tory Island later in the same year.
McKevitt is an Irish surname, found primarily in the northeastern area of Ireland. The family is a member of the ancient “Northern Ó Néill” group of clans who resided in the Ulster province of Ireland.
The siege of Tory Island took place in 1608 during O'Doherty's Rebellion when some of the remaining rebels made a last stand against Crown forces on Tory Island off the northern coast of Ireland. Following their defeat at the Battle of Kilmacrennan, where their leader Sir Cahir O'Doherty had been killed, a group of survivors withdrew to Tory Island, pursued there by Sir Henry Folliott, the Governor of Ballyshannon. The rebels took shelter in the castle on the island but it became obvious they could not hold out for long.
The Burning of Derry took place on 19 April 1608 during O'Doherty's Rebellion when Sir Cahir O'Doherty led a force of rebels to storm Derry in Ulster. He launched his rebellion with an attack on the garrison town of Derry, which was taken thanks to the element of surprise. The town was then almost entirely destroyed by fire.
Burt Castle is a ruined castle located close to Newtowncunningham and Burt, two villages in the east of County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland. Historically it was sometimes spelt as Birt Castle. It is also known by the name O'Doherty's Castle, and should not be mistaken for O'Doherty's Keep near Buncrana.
Henry Hart (1566-1637) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and landowner of the Elizabethan and early Stuart eras. He served in the Nine Years' War (1584-1603) and was later involved in the opening incident of O'Doherty's Rebellion in 1608. As a servitor he acquired an estate in County Donegal.
Phelim Reagh MacDavitt or Phelim Reagh MacDevitt was a Gaelic Irish warrior and landowner notable for his participation in the Nine Years War and later in O'Doherty's Rebellion in 1608. After playing a leading part in the Burning of Derry, he was captured and executed following the Battle of Kilmacrennan.
Sir Ralph Bingley (c.1570–1627) was a Welsh soldier who served and settled in Ireland.
Sir Cormac MacBaron O'Neill (d.1613) was an Irish soldier and landowner of the Elizabethan and early Stuart eras. He was part of the O'Neill dynasty, one of the most prominent Gaelic families in Ireland.
Sir Turlough McHenry O'Neill is known for having been killed together with his father, Henry, fighting for the crown in O'Doherty's Rebellion and for being the father of Sir Phelim O'Neill, who started the Irish Rebellion of 1641.
Rosa O'Neill was a member of the Ó Dochartaigh noble family of Inishowen in County Donegal who lived during the late Tudor and Stuart eras.
Sir Richard Hansard was an English-born soldier who served and settled in Ireland during the Tudor and Stuart eras. He fought for the Crown during Tyrone's Rebellion, during which he was given command of the key town of Ballyshannon in County Donegal.