Battle of Scarrifholis

Part of the Irish Confederate Wars

Date	21 June 1650
Location	Newmills, Letterkenny, County Donegal, north-west Ireland
Result	Decisive English Parliamentarian victory

Belligerents

Irish Confederate Catholics Ulster Army

English Parliamentarians and Protestant settlers

Commanders and leaders

Dr Heber MacMahon, Lord Bishop of Clogher

Sir Charles Coote

Strength

5400 foot 600 horse

3000

Casualties and losses

c.3000 killed more captured

c.100

The Battle of Scarrifholis was fought in County Donegal in the north-west of Ireland on 21 June 1650, during the Irish Confederate Wars – part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (Irish: Cogadh na dTrí Ríocht). It was fought between the Ulster Army (Catholic), commanded by Heber MacMahon, Roman Catholic Bishop of Clogher, and an English Parliamentarian army commanded by Charles Coote, 1st Earl of Mountrath and composed of troops from the New Model Army and local Ulster Protestant settlers. The battle resulted in the annihilation of the Ulster army and the loss of most of its weapons and supplies. This secured the north of Ireland for the English Parliament and contributed greatly to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.

The Ulster Army was raised by the Irish Confederate Catholics in 1642 to organise the insurgent forces who were operating there since the rebellion of the previous year. Up to 1649, it was commanded by Owen Roe O'Neill, a professional soldier who had served in the Spanish army in Flanders. However, O'Neill died in late 1649 and was replaced by Bishop Heber MacMahon of Clogher. MacMahon had no real military experience, but was elected by the Ulster officers to avoid political infighting among their officers. The army was split between those who supported the Confederate's treaty with the English Royalists, mainly pre-war land-owners such as Phelim O'Neill and the army's professional officers and Catholic clergy who did not support a deal with the Royalists that did not guarantee the public exercise of the Catholic religion and return confiscated lands to Catholic landowners. In 1648, Owen Roe O'Neill had left the Confederation and briefly fought with the other Confederate armies over the treaty with the Royalists. He even negotiated with the English Parliamentarian forces in Ulster to try to secure a better deal for Catholic interests. He only re-joined the Catholic Confederation after the invasion of Ireland by Oliver Cromwell in August 1649, when it was clear that the English Parliament was the most dangerous enemy faced by Irish Catholics.

...
Wikipedia