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The Story of

Ireland

919 – 2023

Country in Northwestern Europe

  1. Battle of Islandbridge

    14 September 919

    The Battle of Islandbridge, also called the Battle of Áth Cliath, took place on 14 September 919, between a coalition of native Irish, led by Niall Glúndub, overking of the Northern Uí Néill and High King of Ireland, and the Dublin-based Vikings of the Uí Ímair, led by Sitric Cáech. It was one in a series of battles initiated by the native Irish to attempt to drive the Vikings of the Uí Ímair from Ireland.

  2. Battle of Tara

    980

    The Battle of Tara was fought between the Gaelic Irish of Meath, led by Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, and the Norse Vikings of Dublin, led by Amlaíb Cuarán. It took place near the Hill of Tara in Ireland in the year 980.

  3. Battle of Glenmama

    30 December 999

    The Battle of Glenn Máma or Glenmama (Irish: Cath Ghleann Máma, The Battle of "The Glen of the Gap") took place most probably near Lyons Hill in Ardclough, County Kildare, Ireland, in AD 999 between Windmill Hill and Blackchurch. It was the decisive and only engagement of the brief Leinster revolt of 999–1000 against the King of Munster, Brian Boru.

  4. Battle of Clontarf

    23 April 1014

    The Battle of Clontarf (Irish: Cath Chluain Tarbh) took place on 23 April 1014 at Clontarf, near Dublin, on the east coast of Ireland. It pitted an army led by Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, against a Norse-Irish alliance comprising the forces of Sigtrygg Silkbeard, King of Dublin; Máel Mórda mac Murchada, King of Leinster; and a Viking army from abroad led by Sigurd of Orkney and Brodir of Mann.

  5. Battle of Faughart

    14 October 1318

    The Battle of Faughart (or Battle of Dundalk) was fought on 14 October 1318 between an Anglo-Irish force led by John de Bermingham (later created 1st Earl of Louth) and Edmund Butler, Earl of Carrick, and a Scottish and Irish army commanded by Prince Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick, brother of King Robert I of Scots ('Robert the Bruce'). It was a battle of the First War of Scottish Independence and more precisely the Irish Bruce Wars.

  6. Battle of Affane

    February 1565

    The Battle of Affane (Irish: Cath Áth Mheáin) was fought in County Waterford, in south-eastern Ireland, in 1565, between the forces of the Fitzgerald Earl of Desmond and the Butler Earl of Ormond. The battle ended in the rout of the Desmond forces.

  7. Battle of Glenmalure

    25 August 1580

    The Battle of Glenmalure (Irish: Cath Ghleann Molúra) took place in Ireland on 25 August 1580 during the Desmond Rebellions. A Catholic army of united Irish clans from the Wicklow Mountains led by Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne and James Eustace, 3rd Viscount Baltinglass of the Pale, defeated an English army under Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton, at Clan O'Byrne's mountain stronghold of Glenmalure.

  8. Battle of Curlew Pass

    15 August 1599

    The Battle of Curlew Pass was fought on 15 August 1599 during the campaign of the Earl of Essex in the Nine Years' War, between an English force under Sir Conyers Clifford and a rebel Irish force led by Hugh Roe O'Donnell. The English were ambushed and routed while marching through a pass in the Curlew Mountains, near the town of Boyle, in the west of Ireland.

  9. Siege of Kinsale

    2 October 1601 – 3 January 1602

    The siege of Kinsale (Irish: Léigear Chionn tSáile), also known as the battle of Kinsale, was the ultimate battle in England's conquest of Gaelic Ireland, commencing in October 1601, near the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and at the climax of the Nine Years' War—a campaign by Hugh O'Neill, Hugh Roe O'Donnell and other Irish lords against English rule. Owing to Spanish involvement and the strategic advantages to be gained, the battle also formed part of the Anglo-Spanish War, the wider conflict of Protestant England against Catholic Spain.

  10. Siege of Dunboy

    5 June 1602 – 18 June 1602

    The siege of Dunboy took place at Dunboy Castle between 5 June and 18 June 1602, during the Nine Years' War in Ireland. It was one of the last battles of the war.

  11. Irish Rebellion of 1641

    23 October 1641

    The Irish Rebellion of 1641 began on 23 October 1641. Initiated by Irish gentry and military officers, the rebellion sought to end English domination of Ireland, restore lands confiscated through the plantations of Ireland, and secure Irish control over the country's government and affairs.

  12. Battle of Liscarroll

    July 1642

    The Battle of Liscarroll was fought on 3 September 1642 in northern County Cork, Munster, between Irish Confederate and Royalist troops. The battle was part of the Irish Confederate Wars, which had started in the north in 1641 reaching Munster in 1642.

  13. Battle of New Ross

    18 March 1643

    The Battle of New Ross also known as the Battle of Ballinvegga occurred on 18 March 1643 during the Irish Confederate Wars when the Leinster Confederates commanded by Thomas Preston were routed at Ballinvegga in County Wexford by Royalist forces commanded by the Marquess of Ormond.

  14. Battle of Dungan's Hill

    August 1647

    The Battle of Dungan's Hill took place in County Meath, in eastern Ireland on 8 August 1647. It was fought between the armies of Confederate Ireland and the English Parliament during the Irish Confederate Wars.

  15. Battle of Knocknanuss

    13 November 1647

    The Battle of Knocknanauss was fought in 1647, during the Irish Confederate Wars, part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, between Confederate Ireland’s Munster army and an English Parliamentarian army under Murrough O’Brien. The battle resulted in a crushing defeat for the Irish Confederates.

  16. Battle of Rathmines

    2 August 1649

    The Battle of Rathmines, 2 August 1649, took place outside Dublin, in the suburb of Rathmines. Part of the Irish Confederate Wars and 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, it has been described as the 'decisive battle of the Engagement in Ireland.' In late July 1649, a combined Irish Confederate/Royalist army under the Earl of Ormond, tried to capture Dublin.

  17. Siege of Drogheda

    3 September 1649 – 11 September 1649

    The Siege of Drogheda, 3 to 11 September 1649, took place at the start of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. The port of Drogheda was held by a mixed garrison of Irish Catholics and Royalists under the command of Sir Arthur Aston, when it was besieged by English Commonwealth forces under Oliver Cromwell.

  18. Sack of Wexford

    2 October 1649 – 11 October 1649

    The Sack of Wexford took place from 2 to 11 October 1649, during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, part of the 1641–1653 Irish Confederate Wars. English Commonwealth forces under Oliver Cromwell stormed the town after negotiations broke down, killing most of the Irish Confederate and Royalist garrison.

  19. Irish Confederate Wars

    17th century

    The Irish Confederate Wars took place from 1641 to 1653. The conflict began with the Irish rising of 1641 and evolved into a prolonged struggle over Ireland's future, as Irish forces sought to defend their land, political rights and autonomy against foreign control, plantation policies and continued encroachment on Irish self-government.

  20. Battle of the Boyne

    11 July 1690

    The Battle of the Boyne (Irish: Cath na Bóinne IPA: [ˈkah n̪ˠə ˈbˠoːn̠ʲə]) took place in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and James's daughter), had acceded to the Crowns of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1689. The battle was fought across the River Boyne close to the town of Drogheda in the Kingdom of Ireland, modern-day Ireland, and resulted in a victory for William.