Battle of Julianstown

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Julianstown
partof=the Irish Confederate Wars
date=November 1641
place=Julainstown, Meath, Eastern Ireland
result=Irish victory
combatant1=Irish rebels
combatant2=English troops
commander1="'Phelim O'Neill
commander2="'
strength1=c6000
strength2=2000
casualties1=low
casualties2=c500|

The Battle of Julianstown was fought during the Irish Rebellion of 1641, at Julianstown near Drogheda in eastern Ireland, in November 1641.

Operations

The insurgents, led by Rory O'More moved south from Ulster towards Dublin, hoping to take the capital. An untrained, hastily raised force of Government soldiers, largely composed of refugees from the fighting in the north, was sent against them. The two sides met at the bridge at Julianstown. What followed was a simple rout. The Irish rebels charged the soldiers, shouting their war cry. The soldiers attempted to hold them off by firing in volleys, but were unable to co-ordinate their actions and panicked when they saw the rebels bearing down on them. Many threw down their muskets and ran away, the remainder being either killed or captured. One source tells us that the rebels spared the Irishmen in the soldier’s ranks, but killed all the Englishmen and Scots.

Effects

The consequences of this skirmish were far disproportionate to its military significance. The rebel’s victory made them seem much more formidable than they actually were and helped to spread the rebellion to the rest of Ireland. This indirectly helped to trigger the English Civil War and Confederate Ireland – a short-lived independent Irish state.

ee also

*Irish Rebellion of 1641
*Confederate Ireland
*Wars of the Three Kingdoms
*Irish battles