Carnew massacre

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The Carnew Massacre was the summary execution of 35 prisoners being held as suspected United Irishmen by the local garrison in the British army barracks base of Carnew Castle, Carnew, County Wicklow, Ireland on May 25, 1798.

By the morning of the 25 May, news of the long feared outbreak of the 1798 rebellion in neighbouring County Kildare and of military losses in Ballymore-Eustace, Naas, and Prosperous had reached the garrison in Carnew. The garrison decided to act ruthlessly by taking its own preventative measures and rounded up the rebel suspects under detention. The prisoners were marched from Carnew Castle to the local handball alley and executed by firing squad as a warning to the local populace.

News of the summary executions, together with news of a similar massacre at Dunlavin, spread throughout County Wicklow and across the border in Wexford, seeming to give substance to the rumours of extermination already prevalent. On 7 June, the town was burned and sacked in a revenge raid by Wexford rebels, led by Anthony Perry.

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