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History–Tours
1601October 1601–January 1602 · Kinsale, County Cork

Siege and Battle of Kinsale

A German engraving of 1602 showing walled Kinsale and its harbour ringed by besieging troops
Archival image: Frans Hogenberg, Rijksmuseum. CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

A Spanish force landed at Kinsale to support the rebellion of Hugh O'Neill and Hugh Roe O'Donnell, and was besieged there by the English under Lord Mountjoy. When the Ulster lords marched the length of Ireland to relieve it, their army was routed on 24 December 1601. The Spanish surrendered, Gaelic resistance collapsed, and the Flight of the Earls and the Plantation of Ulster followed.

Sites

  1. Site 1: Charles FortStar fort of the 1670s on the site of Ringcurran Castle, fought over in the siege.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: James FortRuined fort begun in 1602 on the site of a castle the Spanish held.Map ↗

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