The Battle of Knockdoe took place on 19 August 1504 at Knockdoe, in the Parish of
Lackagh (Irish ''Leacach''),
County Galway, between two
Anglo-Irish lords—
Gerald FitzGerald, Earl of Kildare, the
Lord Deputy of Ireland, and
Ulick Fionn Burke
Ulick Fionn Burke, 6th Clanricarde or Mac William Uachtar (; ; ; ; died 1509) was an Irish chieftain and noble.
Family background
Ulick succeeded his father, Ulick Ruadh Burke, 5th Clanricarde (d.1485), as chieftain. The Annals of the Four ...
, 6th
Clanricarde
Clanricarde (; ), also known as Mac William Uachtar (Upper Mac William) or the Galway Burkes, were a fully Gaelicised branch of the Hiberno-Norman House of Burgh who were important landowners in Ireland from the 13th to the 20th centuries.
T ...
(d.1509)—along with their respective Irish allies. The cause was a dispute between
Maelsechlainn mac Tadhg Ó Cellaigh (Mod. Irish ''Maoilseachlainn mac Thaidhg Uí Cheallaigh'')(O'Kelly), King of
Ui Maine – Mod. Irish ''Uí Mháine'') and Clanricarde.
The major contemporary sources for this battle are the Gaelic Irish annals and a sixteenth-century manuscript written in the Pale known as "the
Book of Howth".
[Chapple, Robert M., "Knockdoe (1504): the archaeological & historical significance of one of Ireland's great but forgotten battles."](_blank)
/ref>
Background
Ulick Finn, as Burke was called, was an aggressive local magnate. He had become The Clanricarde in the year 1485, and sought to establish his authority over all Connacht
Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...
, including County Mayo, where the other branch of the great de Burgh or de Burgo (Burke) family held power. He also pursued his family’s interests at the expense of the towns of Galway and Athenry, two urban centres in Connacht which, despite their remoteness from the Pale, were notable for their loyalty to Crown government in Ireland. Although both families were of Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
stock, the western de Burghs (or Burkes) were integrated into the Gaelic world, whereas the Fitzgeralds of the Pale, though Gaelicised
Gaelicisation, or Gaelicization, is the act or process of making something Gaelic, or gaining characteristics of the ''Gaels'', a sub-branch of celticisation. The Gaels are an ethno-linguistic group, traditionally viewed as having spread from Ire ...
, retained cultural, social and political links to England.
The King's Deputy, Gerald, Earl of Kildare (Gearóid Mór), became concerned that Ulick Burke's attempt to gain supremacy in Connacht could simultaneously threaten the Crown's interests in that province and his claim to be the paramount magnate in Ireland. He had tried to persuade Ulick to acknowledge his authority by giving him his daughter Estacia in marriage. But Ulick Burke resisted all attempts to have his power subordinated by the Earl of Kildare, forming an alliance with O'Brien of Thomond and the magnates of Munster.
The Burkes of Mayo, on the other hand, joined forces with Kildare with a view to suppressing their dangerous neighbour.
In 1503 Ulick Burke attacked and destroyed the castles of O'Kelly, Lord of Hymany, at Monivea (''Muine Mheá''), Garbally (''Gallach'') and Castleblakeney (''Garbhdhoire''). The Irish sources attest that O'Kelly complained of this to the Lord Deputy.
Annals of the Four Masters, M1504.13:
/ref> Burke then occupied Galway
Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...
. Since the city had a royal charter (from 1484), as the Crown's representative in Ireland, Kildare was forced to act.["The Battle of Knockdoe", Lackagh Museum and Heritage Centre]
/ref>
Personal reasons
Burke appears to have also taken up with O'Kelly's wife, and there may have been ill-feeling between the Lord Deputy and Burke because of the latter's treatment of Gearóid Mór's daughter.
The battle
It appears that for political (and possibly personal) reasons the Lord Deputy was eager to help O'Kelly weaken the prestige of Clanrickarde. Both sides gathered to their side a large contingent of lesser magnates and their armies. The Lord Deputy's forces included contingents from Leinster, Ulster, and Connacht, among which were the armies of Red Hugh O'Donnell (Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill) and Art Ó Néill, the McDermotts and Morrisroes of Connacht and a contingent provided by O'Kelly. Facing them were the forces of Burke and his allies – the O'Briens of Thomond
Thomond (Classical Irish: ; Modern Irish: ), also known as the kingdom of Limerick, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Clare and County Limerick, as well as parts of County Tipperary around Nena ...
, the McNamaras, the O'Kennedys, and the O'Carrolls.
The armies met on the slopes of Knockdoe, almost a mile to the north of Lackagh Parish Church, with heavily armed Gallowglass
The Gallowglass (also spelled galloglass, gallowglas or galloglas; from ga, gallóglaigh meaning foreign warriors) were a class of elite mercenary warriors who were principally members of the Norse-Gaelic clans of Ireland between the mid 13t ...
playing a large part on both sides.[ The battle appears to have lasted all day, with the heaviest fighting (according to tradition) taking place along the River Clare in the townland of Ballybrone (''Baile Bhróin''). The precise number of casualties is unknown, though contemporary observers, as evidenced in later chronicles, were impressed by the extent of the slaughter.][The Four Masters provide an impressionistic but striking account of the aftermath: M1504.14:]
/ref> Round the summit of Knockdoe are many cairns (burial mounds)
The Lord Deputy, though victorious, had many among the slain. His army remained the night on the field as a token of victory, then marched to Galway, looting Claregalway castle en route and taking as prisoners the two sons and daughter of Ulick Burke. They remained in Galway for a few days and then travelled to Athenry.
The Clanrickarde Burkes faded into obscurity for some decades, with their rivals, the Mayo Burkes, gaining influence as a consequence.
It is said that firearms were employed in the course of the battle, an early instance of their use in Ireland. According to the Book of Howth, one soldier of the Clanrickarde Burkes was beaten to death with a handgun.
See also
* History of Ireland
The first evidence of human presence in Ireland dates to around 33,000 years ago, with further findings dating the presence of homo sapiens to around 10,500 to 7,000 BC. The receding of the ice after the Younger Dryas cold phase of the Quaterna ...
* Irish battles
This is a list of conflicts in Ireland, including wars, armed rebellions, battles and skirmishes. Irish Warriors participated in many wars in Europe and “England” as well and are not completely recognized on this page.
List of wars and rebel ...
Books
* Blackmore, Liz, John Cronin, Donal Ferrie agus Bríd Higgins (ed.), 2001. ''In Their Own Words: The Parish of Lackagh-Turloughmore
Turloughmore ( ; ) is a village in County Galway, Ireland. The name means "the large lake," a notable feature of the area, together with the Clare River (''Abhainn an Chláir''). Turloughmore lies on the N63 national secondary road
A nationa ...
and its People''. Galway.
* McCollough, David W. (ed.), 2000. ''Wars of the Irish Kings: A Thousand Years of Struggle, from the Age of Myth through the Reign of Queen Elizabeth 1''. Crown Publishing Group.
References
External links
Annals of the Four Masters, a major chronicle incorporating a range of earlier sources. Online edition in Irish, with English translation.
{{coord missing, County Galway
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1504 in Ireland
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