Siege of Limerick (1642)
{{For|other sieges of Limerick|Sieges of Limerick (disambiguation){{!}}Siege of Limerick}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2020}}
{{Rewrite lead|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|image = File:King John's Castle in Limerick.jpg
|caption = King John's Castle on the River Shannon
|conflict = Siege of Limerick (1642)
|partof = the Irish Confederate Wars
|date = 18 May – 23 June 1642{{sfn|M'Enery|1904|p= 163}}
|place = Limerick
|coordinates = {{coord|52.669722|-8.625556|display=title|region:GB_scale:20000}}
|result = Irish victory
|combatant1 = {{flagicon image|Green harp flag of Ireland 17th century.svg}} Irish Confederates
|combatant2 = {{flagicon image|Royal Standard of England (1603–1689).svg|size=22px}} Royalists
|commander1 = Garret Barry
|commander2 = George Courtenay
|strength1 = Unknown
|strength2 = 200}}
{{Location map many | Ireland | relief=yes | width=305
| caption = Ireland and St John's Castle
| lat1_deg = 52.669722
| lon1_deg = -8.625556
| label1 = St John's Castle - Limerick
| lat2_deg = 54.596389
| lon2_deg = -5.93
| label2 = Belfast
| lat3_deg = 53.35
| lon3_deg = -6.266667
| label3 = Dublin
}}
{{Campaignbox Irish Confederate Wars|state=collapsed}}
The city of Limerick was besieged five times during the 17th century. Two of these sieges took place during the Eleven Years' War. The first of these sieges occurred during the spring of 1642 when Irish Confederate troops besieged and took the town's citadel, King John's Castle from an English Protestant garrison.
1641 Rebellion
{{Main|Irish Rebellion of 1641}}
The Irish Confederacy’s taking of Limerick was made easier than subsequent attempts because they had the support of most of the city's population. About 600 English Protestant settlers had fled to the city to escape the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and had fortified themselves in King John's Castle in the centre of Limerick. They were led by Captain George Courtenay, 1st Baronet of Newcastle{{Sfn|M'Enery|1904|p=163, line 31|ps=: "The castle was defended by Captain George Courtenay, a younger son of Sir William Courtenay, head of the famous house of Courtenay, Earls of Devon;"}} of Powderham in Devon. The city was predominantly Catholic and appealed to the new Confederate Catholic government at Kilkenny to capture this Protestant citadel.
Confederate troops arrive
As a result, General Garret Barry, the commander of the Confederate Munster army, marched to Limerick with 1,500 men to secure it.{{Sfn|M'Enery|1904|p=163, penultimate line|ps=: "The principal men among the besiegers were General Gerald Barry, Patrick Pursell of Croagh, County Limerick, lord Roche, lord Muskerry ..."}} As he had no siege artillery, Barry put his men to digging mines under the eastern curtain wall and the southeast bastion of the castle,{{Sfn|Wiggins|2001|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hmziLJnM0kwC&pg=PA1 1]|ps=: "The castle had been brought to the brink of surrender by the invisible and inexorable power of deep gallery mining."}} which he intended to collapse by burning their supports. He also positioned snipers in the houses surrounding the castle to harass the defenders, particularly in St. Mary's Cathedral, which overlooked King John's Castle.{{Sfn|Meehan|1882|p=[https://archive.org/details/confederationki01meehgoog/page/n47/ 28, line 29]|ps=: "Muskerry ordered a cannon to be mounted on St. Mary's church, from which he kept up an incessant fire on the castle;"}} Finally, he cut off the defenders' food and water supply.
Surrender
After five weeks, when the English Protestants were ravaged by disease, they surrendered on terms, before Barry had to collapse his mines and assault the castle. The 400 surviving Protestants were evacuated to Dublin.
Citations
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References
{{Refbegin|indent=yes}}
- {{Cite book|last=Meehan |first=Rev. Charles Patrick |date=1882 |title=The Confederation of Kilkenny |edition=New revised and enlarged |publisher=James Duffy |location=Dublin |oclc=561870165 |url=https://archive.org/details/confederationki01meehgoog/}}
- {{Cite journal|last=M'Enery |first=M. J. |date=1904 |title=A Diary of the Siege of Limerick Castle, 1642 |journal=The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland |series=5th |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=163–187 |jstor=25507363 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25507363 |url-access=registration}}
- {{Cite book|last=Wiggins |first=Kenneth |date=2001 |title=Anatomy of a Siege: King John's Castle, Limerick, 1642 |publisher=The Boydell Press |location=London |isbn=0-85115-827-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hmziLJnM0kwC}}
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{{Limerick}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Limerick 1642}}
Category:History of Limerick (city)
Category:Sieges of the Irish Confederate Wars