Battle of Carlow

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1798 Rebellion
Ballymore-Eustace – Naas – Prosperous – Kilcullen – Carlow – Tara Hill – Oulart Hill – Newtownmountkennedy – Gibbet Rath – Three Rocks – Bunclody – Tuberneering – New Ross – Antrim – Arklow - Saintfield – Ballynahinch – Ovidstown – Foulksmills – Vinegar Hill – Ballyellis – Castlebar – Collooney – Ballinamuck – Killala

Battle of Carlow, 25th May 1798

Following the outbreak of the 1798 Rebellion on 24th May in county Kildare, Carlow rebels assembled on the night of the 24th and set off at dawn to attack the County town and picked up more volunteers along the way. Their numbers swelled to 1,200 and marching unopposed, the rebels quickly reached the centre of the seemingly deserted town.

The garrison had information of the impending attack however and had prepared a deadly ambush, posting men at every window and rooftop. As the rebels relaxed after their apparently easy victory, the concealed soldiers poured volley after volley of gunfire into the masses of exposed rebels. Taken completely by surprise, the shocked and poorly armed rebels broke and fled only to run into another army ambush. The survivors tried to escape by breaking through adjoining houses and cabins which were set alight by the pursuing soldiers causing the deaths of 200 of the inhabitants.

An estimated 500 rebels and civilians were killed in the steets of the town with another 150 executed in the reprisals that ensued over the following ten days. There were no reported losses to the military.