The city of Limerick was besieged five times during the 17th century. Two of these sieges took place during the

Eleven Years' War The Irish Confederate Wars, also called the Eleven Years' War (from ga, Cogadh na hAon-déag mBliana), took place in Ireland between 1641 and 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in the kin ...

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

The

Irish Confederacy Confederate Ireland, also referred to as the Irish Catholic Confederation, was a period of Irish Catholic self-government between 1642 and 1649, during the Eleven Years' War. Formed by Catholic aristocrats, landed gentry, clergy and military ...

’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 plantatio ...

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 George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

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 ...