Siege of Dunboy Castle
| date | 5. bis 18th June 1602 |
|---|---|
| place | Dunboy Castle , southern Ireland |
| output | English victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Irish defense with Spanish auxiliaries |
English troops |
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| approx. 180 in the castle | approx. 5,000 |
| losses | |
|
? |
? |
Clontibret - Carrickfergus - Yellow Ford - Curlew Pass - Cahir Castle - Moyry Pass - Kinsale - Dunboy
The siege of Dunboy Castle took place June 5-18, 1602, towards the end of the Nine Years War in County Cork , Ireland .
The ruins of Dunboy Castle , in the immediate vicinity of which the construction of a hotel began until 2011, are west of the town of Castletownbere on the Beara peninsula in County Cork. It was once a stone tower house, built to control and defend the port of Bearhaven, once the stronghold of Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare , a Gaelic clan leader and Chief of Dunboy .
prehistory
O'Sullivan belonged to the confederation of Gaelic lords who rebelled against English supremacy in Ireland and whose soldiers, supported by Spanish units, took part in the Battle of Kinsale . After the defeat at Kinsale , he decided to continue the fight and gathered his troops at Dunboy.
O'Sullivan had to get the castle back under his control first. Dunboy Castle was occupied by a small unit of Spanish soldiers under Captain Saavedra. In February 1602, Saavedra's troops were ready to hand the castle over to English units, part of the obligations following the defeat of Kinsale. But O'Sullivan surprised the Spanish units, disarmed them and later sent them back to Spain . O'Sullivan kept all weapons, equipment and ammunition and immediately began upgrading the castle's defenses to prepare for the inevitable attack by the English. He left 143 of his best men in the castle under the leadership of Captain Richard MacGeoghegan and Friar Domenic Collins. O'Sullivan himself went to another of his castles, Ardea Castle , on the northern coast of the peninsula to secure money and supplies that had just arrived by ship from Spain.
The English crown sent an army of 5,000 men under the command of Sir George Carew , Lord President of Munster , to break the resistance. Carew could also count on support from naval forces.
The siege
Since Dunboy Castle was considered difficult to take, Carew began the siege with heavy artillery fire from land and sea.
Owen O'Sullivan of Carrignass , one of O'Sullivan's cousins who had allied himself with Carew, finally told Carew of a weak spot in the castle wall, near a staircase. Carew had the fire aimed at this point and ultimately brought the wall down. After 10 days of bombardment, the castle was in ruins and the ultimate Irish defeat seemed certain. MacGeoghegan dispatched a messenger to Carew, who demanded a surrender, and in return left Carew hanging within sight of the castle. Without hope, some defenders attempted to swim to nearby Dursey Island , where they were either captured or killed. The remaining defenders were able to repel another English attack before locking themselves in the castle vaults.
The castle fell on the 11th day. During the siege, English troops sacked Dursey Island , where O'Sullivan's family lived; Men were burned alive in church; women and children were pushed off cliffs and drowned.
The castle's basement was eventually captured after a few firefights and MacGeoghegan was downright dismembered by Captain Power when he tried to blow up the castle's ammunition dump. All but three of the captured soldiers were hanged in the market square of Castletownbere. After being questioned by Carew, Friar Domenic Collins was brought to Youghal , where he was finally hanged.
Aftermath
After the fall of Dunboy Castle , O'Sullivan switched to guerrilla tactics in West Cork, was able to conquer at least six castles and finally decided with 1000 men, women and children (" O'Sullivan's March ") to join his allies in the north of the island help.
O'Sullivan's people were repeatedly besieged and shot at by enemy troops on the long journey, and fought against hunger and disease, so that in the end, when the caravan arrived at O'Rourke's Castel in Leitrim , only 35 people had survived. Some also left the train during the journey to settle there; the descendants of these individuals are known today as The Beres .
In Leitrim, O'Sullivan tried to resume the fight with other clan leaders, but it all ended when Hugh O'Neill surrendered and swore an oath to the English crown under the peace treaty. O'Sullivan refuses to do so and went into exile in Spain , where he was later murdered.