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 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 ...

troops besieged and took the town's citadel, King John's Castle from an English Protestant garrison.

1641 Rebellion

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 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1641) was an uprising by Irish Catholics in the Kingdom of Ireland, who wanted an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and to partially or fully reverse the plantat ...

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 of Powderham in Devon. The city was predominantly Catholic and appealed to the new Confederate Catholic government at

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

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. 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, which he intended to collapse by burning their supports. He also positioned

sniper A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...

s in the houses surrounding the castle to harass the defenders, particularly in St. Mary's Cathedral, which overlooked King John's 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 Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

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* * * {{Authority control History of Limerick (city) Limerick 1642 1642 in Ireland

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...