Capture of Bandon

Capture of Bandon
Part of Williamite War in Ireland
Date February–March 1689 Location Bandon, County Cork, Ireland Result Jacobite victory
Belligerents
Williamite forces	Jacobite forces
Commanders and leaders
	Justin MacCarthy
Casualties and losses
Light	Light

The Capture of Bandon occurred in 1689 when the town of Bandon in County Cork, Ireland was forcibly seized from its rebellious Protestant inhabitants by a force of Irish Army troops under Justin MacCarthy. The skirmishing at the town took place during the early stages of the Williamite War in Ireland. The Jacobite success at Bandon helped suppress any chance of a general Munster uprising against the rule of James II similar to that which occurred in Ulster the same year. The slogan "No Surrender!" is believed to have been first used at Bandon and subsequently taken up, more famously, by the defenders at the Siege of Derry the same year.

In 1685 the Catholic James II had come to the throne. In Ireland this led to sharp reversal of government policy in Ireland which had previously favoured the Protestant inhabitants but now was quickly changed by James' representative Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell. Under Tyrconnel's administration the army and civil government were mostly purged of Protestants, where they were replaced entirely by Catholics. In Bandon the previous town burgesses were replaced by Catholic nominees.

Tyrconnell's actions led to a growing hostility amongst the Protestant inhabitants across the island towards the King and his Irish government. Bandon was a historic centre of Protestants, dating back to the Plantation of Munster in the Elizabethan era and was a natural focus of dissent against James' rule. In 1688 similar opposition in England led to the Glorious Revolution in which William III successfully invaded with a Dutch Army. Many Protestants now believed William to be their rightful King while Catholics, and some Protestants, remained loyal to James. During the growing turmoil, many rural County Cork Protestants came to shelter in Bandon.

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