Siege of Smerwick 1580
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate. Wikidata lists more than one location for this battle; the first is shown.
Key facts
| Year | 1580 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Ireland | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Second Desmond Rebellion | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 52.1881, -10.4205 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Smerwick took place at Ard na Caithne (the Hill of the Arbutus Tree, known in English as Smerwick) in November 1580, during the Second Desmond Rebellion in Ireland. A force of between 400 and 700 Papal freelance soldiers, mostly of Spanish and Italian origin, landed at Smerwick to support the Catholic rebels. They were forced to retreat to the nearby promontory fort of Dún an Óir, where they were besieged by the English. The Papal commander parleyed and was bribed, and the defenders surrendered within a few days. The officers were spared, but the other ranks were then summarily executed on the orders of the English commander, Arthur Grey (Baron Grey de Wilton), the Lord Deputy of Ireland.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Smerwick (revision 1370745350), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Dunboy 1602 · 71 km
- Battle of Callann 1261 · 75 km
- Siege of Carrigafoyle Castle 1580 · 76 km
- Battle of Bantry Bay 1689 · 77 km
- French expedition to Ireland (1796) 1796 · 78 km
- Battle of Knocknaclashy 1651 · 100 km
Other battles of the Second Desmond Rebellion
Browse more: battles in Ireland · Europe · Early modern battles