The Battle of Kilmacrennan was a skirmish fought near
Kilmacrennan
Kilmacrennan ( ga, Cill Mhic nÉanáin or ), also Kilmacrenan, is a village, townland and civil parish in County Donegal, Ireland. The village population was 753, as of the 2016 census. The village's population has increased steadily over the l ...
,
County Donegal
County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...
Cahir O'Doherty
Sir Cahir O'Doherty ( ga, Cathaoir Ó Dochartaigh or ga, label=none, Caṫaoir Ó Doċartaiġ; 1587–5 July 1608) was the last Gaelic Chief of the Name of Clan O'Doherty and Lord of Inishowen, in what is now County Donegal. O'Doherty was a ...
was a traditional supporter of the Crown whose treatment at the hands of local officials had led him to launch a rebellion in which he had seized the garrison town of Derry, killing his enemy George Paulet. O'Doherty raised local forces and possibly hoped to negotiate an agreement with the government as had been common with leaders of previous rebellions.
However, the
Viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...
in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
,
Arthur Chichester
Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester (May 1563 – 19 February 1625; known between 1596 and 1613 as Sir Arthur Chichester), of Carrickfergus in Ireland, was an English administrator and soldier who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 16 ...
, responded quickly and despatched reinforcements to the area under
Richard Wingfield
Sir Richard Wingfield KG of Kimbolton Castle (c. 1469 – 22 July 1525) was an influential courtier and diplomat in the early years of the Tudor dynasty of England.
Life
He was born at Letheringham, Suffolk to Sir John Wingfield (c. 1428 &ndash ...
. They were a mixture of professional soldiers of the
Royal Irish Army
Royal may refer to:
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* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
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* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
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and Gaelic warriors allied to the government. They met the rebels at Kilmacrennan and O'Doherty was killed by a musket shot to the head. His troops' morale collapsed and they fled the field. A £500 bounty had been placed on O'Doherty and, while a number of outlandish legends exist about the fate of his severed head, a reward was given to an infantry soldier John Trendor by the Dublin government.McCavitt p.146 With O'Doherty's death, the rebellion quickly collapsed, the final forces retreating to
* McCavitt, John. ''The Flight of the Earls''. Gill & MacMillan, 2002.
1608 in Ireland
Kilmacrennan
Kilmacrennan ( ga, Cill Mhic nÉanáin or ), also Kilmacrenan, is a village, townland and civil parish in County Donegal, Ireland. The village population was 753, as of the 2016 census. The village's population has increased steadily over the l ...