Siege of Charlemont

Part of the Irish Confederate Wars

Date	July–August 1650
Location	Armagh, Ireland
Result	Parliamentarian force led by Coote takes citadel, but at heavy cost.

Belligerents

Irish Catholic Confederate troops from Ulster

English Parliamentarian New Model Army

Commanders and leaders

Felim O'Neill

Charles Coote

Casualties and losses

low, many wounded

c.600

Coordinates: 54°26′53″N 6°40′44″W / 54.448°N 6.679°W / 54.448; -6.679

The Siege of Charlemont took place in July–August 1650 during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland when the fortress of Charlemont in County Armagh, Ireland was besieged by Charles Coote's Parliamentarian army, which was largely composed of soldiers of the New Model Army. The force led by Coote eventually took the fort from its Irish defenders, but not before they suffered heavy losses, with some 500–800 Parliamentarian Soldiers being killed during assaults on the formidable stronghold. In terms of the number of soldiers killed in battle, The Siege of Charlemont was the second bloodiest engagement fought by the Parliamentarians in Ireland, only surpassed by the Siege of Clonmel.

Charlemont was the first stronghold to be captured in the Irish uprising of 1641, seized a force led by Felim O'Neill within 24 hours of the outbreak of the rebellion. It was one of the most modern fortrifications in Ireland and as such was one of the few strongholds in northern Ireland to remain in Irish Confederate hands throughout the 1640s.

At the end of 1649, a force of New Model Army soldiers under Robert Venables moved into Ulster and linked up with Charles Coote's small army. The combined force conquered eastern Ulster easily, routing the Scottish Royalist Ulster army at Lisnagarvey. The only serious opposition to the Parliamentarian army came from Felim O'Neill's Ulstermen, who launched a night attack on the Parliamentarian camp, though to little effect.

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