The Battle of Macroom was a skirmish fought on 10 May 1650, near Macroom, County Cork, in southern Ireland, during the

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland wi ...

. An English Parliamentarian force under Roger Boyle, (Lord Broghill), defeated an

Irish Confederate The Irish Confederation was an Irish nationalist independence movement, established on 13 January 1847 by members of the Young Ireland movement who had seceded from Daniel O'Connell's Repeal Association. Historian T. W. Moody described it as "th ...

force under David Roche.

Background

Boyle had taken Cork for the English Parliamentarians by inducing its English Royalist garrison to defect to the Parliamentary side, which they had served until 1648. This was a major help to

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

's campaign in Ireland, as it secured for him most of Munster and its port towns. The Irish and Royalist troops in the province retreated to western County Kerry, which is a natural stronghold due to its remote and mountainous terrain.

Battle

David Roche, an Irish officer, organised an offensive, out of Kerry with 1,400 men in May 1650, in an effort to relieve the

Siege of Clonmel The Siege of Clonmel, from 27 April to 18 May 1650, took place during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, when Clonmel in County Tipperary was besieged by 8,000 men from the New Model Army under Oliver Cromwell. The garrison of 1,500 comm ...

. Cromwell sent Boyle to intercept Roche's force with 1,500 infantry and 500 cavalrymen. When Roche realised that he was being pursued, he turned back. Rather than let the Irish force escape, Boyle followed them with his cavalry alone. He caught them at Macroom on 10 May. The English surprised the Irish with a cavalry charge before they could form up for battle and routed them. Several hundred Irish soldiers were killed. The Parliamentarian's losses were light. Roche's force broke up in disorder and fell back towards the mountains of Kerry.

Aftermath

The following day, Boyle besieged and took Carrigadrohid castle. His men had taken

Boetius MacEgan Boetius MacEgan ( ga, Baothnalach Mac Aodhagáin; died May 1650) was a 17th-century Irish Roman Catholic Bishop of Ross. He was born in the barony of Duhallow in north-west County Cork and educated in France and Spain. He returned to his nati ...

, the Catholic Bishop of Ross prisoner and warned the garrison that they would kill him unless they surrendered. MacEgan told the garrison not to surrender and was then hanged in view of the castle walls. The garrison surrendered shortly afterwards but were allowed to march away unmolested.

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Background

Battle

Aftermath

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Further reading