The siege of Kinsale (), also known as the battle of Kinsale, was the ultimate battle in England's conquest of Gaelic Ireland, commencing in October 1601, near the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and at the climax of the Nine Years' War—a campaign by Hugh O'Neill, Hugh Roe O'Donnell and other Irish lords against English rule.

Owing to Spanish involvement and the strategic advantages to be gained, the battle also formed part of the Anglo-Spanish War, the wider conflict of Protestant England against Catholic Spain.

Following the failure of the Spanish Armada in 1588, Philip II decided to take advantage of the Irish rebels in order to create a new front in the war against England. Spanish aid was offered to the Irish rebels in the expectation that tying the English down in Ireland might draw English resources away from their allies in the Netherlands, the Dutch Estates, which were engaged in a long rebellion against Spanish rule, and provide another base for privateers, such as the Dunkirkers, to disrupt English and Dutch shipping. The 2nd Spanish Armada aimed at supporting the rebels, but it was smashed by storms off Cape Finisterre in October 1596. The ill Philip sent forth another armada the following year, but this too failed due to storms, bad luck and bad planning.

Spanish landing

After Philip II's death, Philip III continued to provide direct support (material support had been sent for years) to the Irish rebels fighting England. In 1601, Philip sent Don Juan del Águila and Don Diego Brochero to Ireland with 6,000 men and a significant amount of arms and ammunition. Bad weather separated the ships and nine of them, carrying the majority of the veteran soldiers and gunpowder, had to turn back. The remaining 4,000 men disembarked at Kinsale, just south of Cork, on 2 October 1601. Another force commanded by Alonso de Ocampo managed to land at Baltimore. The Spaniards rushed to fortify these footholds to withstand the approaching English armies.

thumb|Map, with German annotations, depicting the siege of Kinsale

thumb|Siege of Kinsale in map in Pacata Hibernia (1633)

Tyrone and O'Donnell's march

thumb|[[Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, was the Irish confederacy's leader.]]

At the same time, the Gaelic Earls O'Neill and his ally O'Donnell considered their positions. Their difficulty was that the Spanish had landed on the south coast of Ireland, far away from the areas under control of the Irish chieftains. In order to bring aid to the Spanish troops they would have to lead their troops into regions where support for their cause was doubtful. They hesitated for weeks as autumn turned into a particularly wet and stormy winter. The besieged Spanish garrison began to suffer from the lack of supplies and privation, and O'Neill was forced to go to their aid. He fully understood that should this first Spanish force suffer defeat, he would be unlikely to receive further military help. The decision of the Spanish to land at Kinsale forced O'Neill to agree with his more impetuous ally, Red Hugh O'Donnell, to abandon his hitherto successful guerilla tactics and risk open confrontation. A large force would be necessary; larger than they could afford to lose. They set out on a winter march, separately to ease supply, O'Neill with 2500 foot and 500 horse and O'Donnell with 1500 foot and 300 horse. After a few deceptions and some hard marching in hazardous conditions, the two forces rendezvoused and encamped at Kinalmeaky to rest and provision the army where they were joined by additional forces from Leinster and Munster.

Seizure of outer defences

At the end of October, a number of cannon was sent by Mountjoy to bombard Ringcurran fort. The guns from the English siege works pounded the small fort. Don Pedro de Heredia the Spanish commander turned down a request for the surrender. The bombardment resumed and this time with the guns of Captain Button's Moon, a breach had opened. The small number of Irish soldiers fled, fearing for their lives – Heredia decided it was best too, with some fifty Spaniards. An English patrol however spotted them, most surrendered – very few escaped. In the meantime a Spanish force from Kinsale itself attempted to relieve the garrison. Lieutenant-colonel Colonel Francis Roe, with a hundred men, became heavily engaged in skirmishes with a force twice his number. Roe's commanding officer Sir Oliver St John seeing that Spanish pikemen were preparing to charge, personally led thirty musketmen to reinforce Roe, and the Spanish were driven into retreat. Ringcurran fell soon after - Captain Paez de Clavijo with 86 Spanish prisoners agreed to surrender, leaving the besieged without any access to the sea. The prisoners were sent to Cork.

Carew had reached the English camp by the 15 November with 1,000 men and 250 horse. Two days later, Castle Ny-Parke which guarded the harbour entrance was the next English target. An assault using a wooden siege engine failed when it collapsed before the fort, and the English retreated. Águila attempted to relieve the fort but a small force of Spaniards in boats were repelled by English naval gunfire. Two days later it was taken in an assault by English troops led by Sir Richard Smyth after a breach had been made in the defences. All 33 men were either killed, wounded or captured. With this higher ground seized, they subjected the Spanish forces to constant artillery fire.

English blockade and reinforcements

Leveson meanwhile had to wait a further week before he got under way. They did not arrive until 12 November; the English ships then formed a tight blockade of Kinsale harbour. Mountjoy however was not very impressed by what he saw, protesting that only one in ten of the troops could shoot a gun.

The English cavalry rode through the surrounding countryside destroying livestock and crops, while both sides called for allegiance from the population. O'Neill and O'Donnell were hesitant about leaving Ulster vulnerable to attack by marching south, especially given the lack of supplies for their troops. When they set out, they successfully cut English supply lines across the island and, by December, the shortage of supplies and the severe weather had begun to take a toll on the besieging English army, with many dying of dysentery and fever. The further Spanish force which had been sent never landed. On receipt of news of Águila's surrender, they promptly turned back to Spain.

On the other side of James' fort Charles Fort was built in the 1670s on the site of Ringcurran Castle.

See also

  • Nine Years' War (Ireland)
  • Irish battles
  • History of Ireland (1536–1691)

References

Bibliography

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