Siege of Limerick (1650/1651)
| date | October 1650 , June – October 1651 |
|---|---|
| place | Limerick , County Limerick |
| output | Parliamentary troops take over the city |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Irish Ulster Army and English royalists |
English New Model Army |
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| approx. 2,000 | approx. 8,000 |
| losses | |
|
approx. 700 dead soldiers + 5,000 dead civilians |
2,000 dead soldiers; including Henry Ireton |
Julianstown - Drogheda - Kilrush - Liscarroll - New Ross - Limerick - Galway - Benburb - Dungans Hill - Knocknanauss
The siege of Limerick in 1650 and 1651 was the second siege of the city in the 17th century and, like the first, took place during the Irish Confederation Wars.
Until the Irish Confederates and their English allies (the royalists ) had been driven from the east of Ireland by the retaking of Ireland by Oliver Cromwell . The Alliance controlled only a small area west of the River Shannon in Counties Clare and Limerick . The city of Limerick was the southern outpost of this area and was well fortified.
Oliver Cromwell had left Ireland for England in May 1650 and handed over command of the parliamentary troops to Henry Ireton . Ireton marched north with his army from Munster to besiege Limerick in October 1650. But the weather was too wet and too cold, so that the siege had to be called off again very quickly.
It was not until June 1651 that Ireton returned to Limerick with 8,000 men, 28 siege weapons and four mortars . He met with Hugh Dubh O'Neill , the Irish commandant of Limerick, to negotiate the surrender, but O'Neill refused.
What was then Limerick was divided into two halves: Irish Town and English Town , which were separated by the River Abbey. English Town , where King John's Castle was also located, was surrounded by water (the River Abbey on three sides, the River Shannon on the fourth side). This area was known as King John's Island . There was only one bridge to this island, the Thomond Bridge, which was secured by earth walls. Irish Town was more vulnerable, but also heavily fortified. The city walls were secured by 6 meter high earthworks, which made it difficult to break through the city walls. Along the wall there were also various bastions that were manned with cannons. The largest of these bulwarks were at St. John's Gate and Mungret Gate . The town's garrison consisted of approximately 2,000 soldiers - mostly veterans from the Ulster Army.
Since Limerick was very strongly fortified, Ireton did not dare to storm the city walls. Instead, he secured the access routes to the city and cut them off from supplies. At the same time the artillery was protected by earth walls so that the defenders could be bombed safely. His troops were able to capture the fort at Thomond Bridge , but the Irish forces destroyed the bridge, cutting off English Town from the land route.
Ireton now tried to reach the city by sea with small boats. After initial success, O'Neill was able to strike back and forced the English troops to flee. After this unsuccessful attack, Ireton returned to his defensive tactics and had two forts built on a nearby hill ( Singland Hill ) to isolate the city: Ireton's Fort and Cromwell's Fort . An attempt by Irish troops to reach the city from the south failed at the Battle of Knocknaclashy . O'Neill's only chance now was to hold out until the weather made another siege impossible or hunger made Ireton give up. To do this, O'Neill sent elderly civilians, women, and children out of town so that his supplies would last a little longer. But Ireton had 40 of these civilians killed and the rest sent back to Limerick.
After this point, O'Neill came under extreme pressure from the city authorities and the civilian population to finally give up because they suffered from extreme hunger and epidemics (including the plague ).
In October 1651 part of the garrison in Limerick (English royalists under Colonel Fennell) mutinied , directed some of the cannons into the city and forced O'Neill to give up. Hugh O'Neill surrendered on October 27th - the lives of the residents (excluding the authorities and leaders) and their property were protected during the surrender negotiations and the garrison was allowed to move on to Galway . Only the guns remained in Limerick. A bishop, a councilor, and Colonel Fennell were hanged. O'Neill was also supposed to be hanged, but was instead jailed in London by Parliamentary Commandant Edmund Ludlow .
Over 2000 English soldiers died during the siege - mostly from epidemics. Henry Ireton , who died a month after the siege ended, was among the dead . In addition to nearly 700 dead Irish soldiers, hunger and disease caused at least 5,000 civilians to die.