The battle of Liscarroll was fought in county Cork in July 1642, at the start of the Irish Confederate Wars. An Irish Confederate army around 6000 strong and commanded by Garret Barry – a professional soldier - was defeated by an English force commanded by a Protestant Irishman, Murrough O’Brien, Earl Inchiquinn .
The Confederate army was composed of militias created by local lords after the Irish Rebellion of 1641, the English force of soldiers sent from England and English settlers in Munster such as the Boyle family –two of whom Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery and Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Burlington fought at the battle.
Barry seized Liscarroll castle on the Blackwater river – trying to cut off the English held city of Cork. Inchiquinn marched his troops out of the city to re-take the castle and the battle was joined close by.
The Confederate’s cavalry were led by a man named Oliver Stephenson, who was descended from Elizabethan English settlers, but who sided with the Irish rebellion because he was a Roman Catholic. Stephenson’s 500 horsemen charged Inchiquinn’s force, putting them into disorder and even capturing Inchiquinn himself . However, in the melee, Stephenson was shot dead by Inchiquinn’s brother (through the eye-piece of his helmet) and the Irish cavalry lost heart and fell back. The Irish infantry lacked the training and discipline to stand up to a cavalry charge and took flight when attacked, leading to a rout of the Irish forces. Over 700 Irish Confederates were killed, including a high proportion of their officers like Stephenson. In addition, Inchiquinn executed 50 more Confederate officers whom he had taken prisoner - hanging them the next morning. The battle meant that Cork would be a British and Protestant stronghold for the rest of the war.
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