Irish Confederate Wars

The Irish Confederate Wars were fought in Ireland between 1641 and 1653. The Wars were the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms - a series of civil wars in Kingdoms of Ireland, England and Scotland (all ruled by Charles I of England) that also included the English Civil War and Scottish Civil War. The conflict in Ireland essentially pitted the native Irish Roman Catholics against the Protestant British settlers and their supporters in England and Scotland.

The Cromwellian War 1649-1653

See also Cromwellian conquest of Ireland

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The Confederate/Royalist coalition wasted valuable months fighting with Owen Roe O'Neill and other former Confederates who refused to accept the dissolution of the Confederation. Belatedly, in August 1649, Ormonde tried to capture Dublin, but was routed by Jones at the battle of Rathmines. Oliver Cromwell landed shortly afterwards with the New Model Army. Cromwell was able to succeed in three years in conquering the entire island of Ireland, because his troops were supplied, well equipped (especially with artillery) and well trained. Moreover, he had a huge supply of men, money and logistics to fund the campaign.

Related Topics:
Owen Roe O'Neill - 1649 - Dublin - Battle of Rathmines - Oliver Cromwell - New Model Army

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The Cromwellian Conquest

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His first action was to secure the east coast of Ireland for supplies of men and logistics form England. To this end, he took Drogheda (See also siege of Drogheda) and Wexford, perpetrating massacres of the defenders of both towns. He also sent a force to the north to link up with the British settler army there. Those settlers who supported the Scots and Royalists were defeated by the Parliamentarians at the battle of Lisnagarvey.

Related Topics:
Siege of Drogheda - Battle of Lisnagarvey

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Ormonde signally failed to mount a military defence of southern Ireland. He based his defences on walled towns, which Cromwell systematically took one after the other with his ample supply of siege artillery. However, the Irish and Royalist field armies did not hold any strategic line of defence and instead were demoralised by a constant stream of defeats and withdrawals. Only at the siege of Clonmel did Cromwell suffer significant casualties (although disease also took a very heavy toll on his men). However, his losses were made good by the defection of the Royalist garrison of Cork, who had been Parliamentarians up to 1648, back to the Parliament side. Cromwell returned to England in 1650, passing his command to Henry Ireton.

Related Topics:
Siege of Clonmel - Henry Ireton

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In the north, the Parliamentarian/settler army met the Irish Ulster army at the battle of Scarrifholis and destroyed it. Ormonde was discredited and fled for France, to be replaced by Clanricarde. By 1651, the remaining Royalist/Irish forces were hemmed into an area west of the River Shannon, holding only the fortified cities of Limerick and Galway and an enclave in County Kerry, under Viscount Muskerry. Ireton besieged Limerick while the northern Parliamentarian army under Charles Coote besieged Galway. Muskerry made an attempt to relieve Limerick, marching north from Kerry, but was routed by Roger Boyle at the battle of Knocknaclashy. Limerick and Galway were too well defended to be taken by storm, but were blockaded until hunger and disease forced them to surrender, Limerick in 1651, Galway in 1652. Waterford and Duncannon also surrendered in 1651.

Related Topics:
Battle of Scarrifholis - Clanricarde - 1651 - River Shannon - Limerick - Galway - County Kerry - Viscount Muskerry - Roger Boyle - Battle of Knocknaclashy - Waterford - Duncannon

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• See also sieges of Limerick

Guerrilla War

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This was the end of organised Irish resistance, but because the Cromwellian surrender terms were so harsh, many small units of Irish troops fought on as guerrillas, or "tories" as they were called at the time. Undoubtedly some of the tories were simple bandits, whereas others were politically motivated. The Cromwellians distinguished in their rewards between "private tories" and "public tories". This phase of the war may actually have been the most costly in terms of civilian loss of life. The tories, who were usually former Confederate soldiers, operated from rugged areas such as the Wicklow Mountains, attacking vulnerable groups of Parliamentarian soldiers and looting their supplies. In response,the Parliamentarians designated areas as what is now called, "free-fire zones", forcibly evicting the civilian populations from areas which had been helping the tories and burning their crops. These areas could be very large, including almost all of county Wicklow. The result of this fighting was famine throughout the country, which was aggravated by an outbreak of bubonic plague. Disease of course killed indiscriminately, Ireton himself died of plague outside Limerick in 1651. The last organised Irish troops surrendered in Cavan in 1653, when the Cromwellians agreed to let them be transported to serve in the French army - the English Royalist Court was in exile in France. However, any troops captured in this phase of the war were either executed or transported to penal colonies in the West Indies (especially Barbados, where their descendants are known as Redlegs). Even after the formal surrender , Ireland was plagued with small scale violence for the remainder of the 1650s.

Related Topics:
Guerrillas - Tories - Bandits - Wicklow Mountains - Free-fire zone - County Wicklow - Famine - Bubonic plague - 1651 - Cavan - 1653 - French army - Royalist - West Indies - Barbados - Redlegs

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