Battle of Lisnagarvey

Part of the Irish Confederate Wars and
Wars of the Three Kingdoms

Date	6 December 1649
Location	Near Lisnagarvey, County Down
Result	Parliamentarian victory

Belligerents

Royalists

English Parliamentarians

Commanders and leaders

Major-General George Munro, 1st of Newmore & Lord Clandeboye

Charles Coote
Colonel Robert Venables

Strength

3,000

5,000

Casualties and losses

1,500

Low

The Battle of Lisnagarvey took place near Lisburn, 20 miles (32 km) south of Carrickfergus, in south county Antrim, Ireland in December 1649. It was fought between the Royalists army (many of whom were Scots) and the Parliamentarians during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.

When the army of Oliver Cromwell landed in Dublin in August 1649, the only large town in Ulster held by the Parliamentarians was Derry. Charles Coote's forces had managed to resist the Royalist/Confederate alliance in 1649 thanks to an alliance of convenience with Owen Roe O'Neill and his Ulster Irish army. After Cromwell had conquered the Major town of Drogheda in September, he sent Colonel Robert Venables with a force of 5,000 men to conquer east Ulster while Cromwell himself headed south with the rest of the army.

Within days Venables had occupied Dundalk, and shortly after he captured the Port of Carlingford and a number of nearby castles with the help of a Parliamentarian frigate. The next day the parliamentarian cavalry captured Newry. The only serious resistance encountered by Venable's force occurred on 27 September, when some of Felim O'Neill's Ulster Irish launched a surprise attack on the Parliamentarian camp near Lisnagarvey. These however were beaten off. Shortly after, the Scottish garrison in Belfast also surrendered without a fight. A considerable quantity of arms and ammunition was obtained by the Parliamentarians in these actions.

In the meantime, the force of Charles Coote became active once again. Coote's first target was Coleraine. Some of the Protestant townsmen opened a gate and let his forces in, Coote then proceeded to massacre the garrison. Most of the defenders were in fact Protestants of Scottish birth, but Coote was not one to show mercy to an enemy. Coote's forces than joined Venable's at Belfast, who was preparing an attack on Carrickfergus.

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Wikipedia