Battle of Tecroghan

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

Date	19 June 1650
Location	Tecrogan castle, near Trim, Westmeath central Ireland
Result	Irish victory

Belligerents

Irish Confederate Catholics

English Parliamentarians

Commanders and leaders

James Tuchet, 3rd Earl of Castlehaven & Ulick Burke, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde directing relief force; Sir Robert Talbot & Lady Fitzgerald defending castle

Colonels John Hewson & John Reynolds

Strength

2000 as well as 1500 defending castle

2600

Casualties and losses

low

200 killed

The Battle of Tecroghan took place near Trim, in west Leinster, Ireland in June 1650. It was fought between the armies of Confederate Ireland and the English Parliament during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. An English force under Hewson and Reynolds had surrounded the formidable castle of Tecroghan. The castle was defended by a force led by Sir Robert Talbot and Lady Fitzgerald and contained a considerable number of cannon. Clanricarde and Castlehaven felt it was of enough strategic importance to warrant combining their forces and coming to the relief of the Castle.

The battle was unusual in that an Irish force managed to win a minor battlefield victory over a force of New Model Army troops, although the long-term strategic consequences of this victory were insignificant.

By the summer of 1650, things were looking dire for the Irish. Many towns in the south and east were under Parliamentarian control. A plague, which had first appeared in Galway in late 1649, was still decimating the population of many parts of the country. The Irish still controlled the major towns of Waterford, Galway and Limerick, as well as all of the province of Connaught. A veteran force of several thousand Ulstermen was still active in the north, but the English were starting to threaten central Ireland. Ormonde and Clanricarde realised they needed to make a major effort if they were to hold off the English advance.

The castle of Tecroghan was located in a bog island seven miles west of Trim. The surrounding terrain was fairly desolate, but it was only a few miles from the main Dublin-Athlone road, making it of considerable strategic importance. English forces appeared before the Castle in May, but Hewson shortly after led some companies away to hunt the partisans known as tories. This weakened the besieging force. Clanricarde and Castlehaven realised that if they united their forces they would have a chance to come to the castle's relief.

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Wikipedia