Battle of Dungan's Hill
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Dungan's Hill took place in County Meath
, in eastern Ireland in August 1647. It was fought between the armies of Confederate Ireland
and the English Parliament during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
. The Irish army was intercepted on a march towards Dublin and destroyed. Although it is a little known event, even in Ireland, the battle was very bloody (with over 3000 deaths) and had important political repercussions. The Parliamentarian victory there destroyed the Irish Confederate forces’ Leinster army and contributed to the collapse of the Confederate cause and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
in 1649.
and a Scottish outpost in Ulster
. The previous year they had rejected a treaty with the English Royalists
in favour of eliminating the remaining British forces in Ireland.
In August 1647, the Confederate Leinster army under Thomas Preston
was attempting to take Dublin from the English Parliamentarian garrison under Michael Jones
, when it was intercepted by the Roundheads and forced to give battle. Jones had marched to Trim to relieve the Parliamentarian outpost there at Trim Castle
. Preston, who had been shadowing Jones' movements, attempted to march on Dublin before Jones' army returned there, but covered only 19 of the 60 or so kilometres (12 of the 40 miles) before being caught at Dungan's Hill, where the Confederate forces had to form up for battle.
The battle took place near the modern village of Summerhill and along the present main road between Trim
and Kilcock
.
, where he had been a commander of the Spanish garrison at Leuven
, but had no experience of open warfare or handling cavalry
. Jones, by contrast, had been a cavalry officer in the English Civil War
. As a result, Preston tried to move his cavalry along a narrow covered lane (site of the present day main road), where they were trapped and subjected to enemy fire without being able to respond. Even worse, Preston had placed a large number of his troops in wheat fields over seven feet tall. As a result these troops were unable to see the Parliamentarians until it was too late. With the Confederate army spread out and in confusion, Jones' troops fell in amongst them causing the demoralised Irish cavalry to flee the field, leaving the remainder of Preston’s infantry unsupported.
The Confederate army’s infantry
were primarily equipped with pikes
and heavy muskets and trained to stand in tercio
s in the Spanish manner. This meant they were difficult to break, but also highly immobile, without cavalry to cover their cumbersome formation when it moved. What was worse, Preston had positioned them in a large walled field, so that when their cavalry had run away, the Parliamentarians could surround and trap them. Some of the Irish infantry, Scottish Highlanders
brought to Ireland by Alasdair MacColla
, managed to charge and break through Jones’ men and escape into a nearby bog, where the English cavalry could not follow. Preston and about 2-3000 of his regular infantry managed to follow the Highlanders to safety, but the remainder were trapped.
What happened next is disputed. The Irish infantry managed to hold off several assaults on their position, before trying to follow their comrades into the safety of the bog. This made them lose their formation and the Parliamentarians got in amongst them and then surrounded them in the bogland. Parliamentarian accounts simply say that the Irish force was then destroyed. Irish accounts, however, claim that the Confederate troops surrendered and were then massacred. One account, by a Catholic friar named O Meallain, says that the corpses of the Irish foot soldiers were found with their hands tied. A recent study (Padraig Lenihan, Confederate Catholics at War, Cork 2001), suggests that the Irishmen probably tried to surrender, but that, according to the conventions of 17th century warfare, this had to be accepted before it entitled them to safety. In this case, it was not accepted and the infantrymen were butchered.
Around 3000 Confederate troops and a small number of Parliamentarians died at Dungan's Hill. One of the English regimental commanders, Colonel Anthony Hungerford, was shot in the mouth, a wound that invalided him out of the English Army. Most of the dead were Irish infantrymen killed in the last stage of the battle. Those prisoners who were taken were mainly officers, whom the Parliamentarians could either ransom or exchange for prisoners of their own. Richard Talbot (later Earl of Tyrconnell and Lord Deputy of Ireland
, but then a junior cavalry officer) was among the Confederate prisoners.
In the immediate aftermath of the battle, Owen Roe's Ulster Army marched through the pass of Portlester Mill to mount an effective rearguard action, routing Jones' advanced brigade and enabling the survivors of the Leinster army to escape. Jones, fearing O'Neills army, did not continue the pursuit and returned to Dublin. O'Neill and his Ulstermen returned four months later to bury the dead Confederates.
County Meath
County Meath is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...
, in eastern Ireland in August 1647. It was fought between the armies of Confederate Ireland
Confederate Ireland
Confederate Ireland refers to the period of Irish self-government between the Rebellion of 1641 and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1649. During this time, two-thirds of Ireland was governed by the Irish Catholic Confederation, also known as the "Confederation of Kilkenny"...
and the English Parliament during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
The Wars of the Three Kingdoms formed an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in England, Ireland, and Scotland between 1639 and 1651 after these three countries had come under the "Personal Rule" of the same monarch...
. The Irish army was intercepted on a march towards Dublin and destroyed. Although it is a little known event, even in Ireland, the battle was very bloody (with over 3000 deaths) and had important political repercussions. The Parliamentarian victory there destroyed the Irish Confederate forces’ Leinster army and contributed to the collapse of the Confederate cause and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland refers to the conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell landed in Ireland with his New Model Army on behalf of England's Rump Parliament in 1649...
in 1649.
Background
By 1647, The Irish Catholic Confederation controlled all of Ireland except for Parliamentarian enclaves around Dublin and CorkCork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
and a Scottish outpost in Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
. The previous year they had rejected a treaty with the English Royalists
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
in favour of eliminating the remaining British forces in Ireland.
In August 1647, the Confederate Leinster army under Thomas Preston
Thomas Preston, 1st Viscount Tara
Thomas Preston, 1st Viscount Tara was an Irish soldier of the 17th century. He was a descendant of Sir Robert de Preston, who in 1363 purchased the lands of Gormanston, County Meath, and who was keeper of the Great Seal in Ireland some years later....
was attempting to take Dublin from the English Parliamentarian garrison under Michael Jones
Michael Jones (soldier)
Lieutenant-General Michael Jones fought for King Charles I during the Irish Confederate War but joined the English Parliamentary side when the English Civil War started....
, when it was intercepted by the Roundheads and forced to give battle. Jones had marched to Trim to relieve the Parliamentarian outpost there at Trim Castle
Trim Castle
Trim Castle , Trim, County Meath, Ireland, on the shores of the Boyne has an area of 30,000 m². It is the remains of Ireland's largest Anglo-Norman castle...
. Preston, who had been shadowing Jones' movements, attempted to march on Dublin before Jones' army returned there, but covered only 19 of the 60 or so kilometres (12 of the 40 miles) before being caught at Dungan's Hill, where the Confederate forces had to form up for battle.
The battle took place near the modern village of Summerhill and along the present main road between Trim
Trim, County Meath
Trim is the traditional county town of County Meath in Ireland, although the county town is now Navan. The town was recorded in the 2006 census to have a population of 6,870....
and Kilcock
Kilcock
Kilcock or Killcock is a town and townland in the north of County Kildare, Ireland, on the border with County Meath. Kilcock is a dormitory town for many of those who work in Dublin...
.
The battle
From a Parliamentarian point of view, victory in this battle was presented to them by the incompetence of the Irish commander. Preston was a veteran of the Thirty Years' WarThirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, where he had been a commander of the Spanish garrison at Leuven
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
, but had no experience of open warfare or handling cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
. Jones, by contrast, had been a cavalry officer in the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. As a result, Preston tried to move his cavalry along a narrow covered lane (site of the present day main road), where they were trapped and subjected to enemy fire without being able to respond. Even worse, Preston had placed a large number of his troops in wheat fields over seven feet tall. As a result these troops were unable to see the Parliamentarians until it was too late. With the Confederate army spread out and in confusion, Jones' troops fell in amongst them causing the demoralised Irish cavalry to flee the field, leaving the remainder of Preston’s infantry unsupported.
The Confederate army’s infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
were primarily equipped with pikes
Pike (weapon)
A pike is a pole weapon, a very long thrusting spear used extensively by infantry both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a counter-measure against cavalry assaults. Unlike many similar weapons, the pike is not intended to be thrown. Pikes were used regularly in European warfare from the...
and heavy muskets and trained to stand in tercio
Tercio
The tercio was a Renaissance era military formation made up of a mixed infantry formation of about 3,000 pikemen, swordsmen and arquebusiers or musketeers in a mutually supportive formation. It was also sometimes referred to as the Spanish Square...
s in the Spanish manner. This meant they were difficult to break, but also highly immobile, without cavalry to cover their cumbersome formation when it moved. What was worse, Preston had positioned them in a large walled field, so that when their cavalry had run away, the Parliamentarians could surround and trap them. Some of the Irish infantry, Scottish Highlanders
Gaels
The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
brought to Ireland by Alasdair MacColla
Alasdair MacColla
Alasdair Mac Colla was a Scottish soldier. His full name in Scottish Gaelic was Alasdair Mac Colla Chiotaich Mac Domhnuill . He is sometimes mistakenly referred to in English as "Collkitto", a nickname that properly belongs to his father. He fought in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, most notably...
, managed to charge and break through Jones’ men and escape into a nearby bog, where the English cavalry could not follow. Preston and about 2-3000 of his regular infantry managed to follow the Highlanders to safety, but the remainder were trapped.
What happened next is disputed. The Irish infantry managed to hold off several assaults on their position, before trying to follow their comrades into the safety of the bog. This made them lose their formation and the Parliamentarians got in amongst them and then surrounded them in the bogland. Parliamentarian accounts simply say that the Irish force was then destroyed. Irish accounts, however, claim that the Confederate troops surrendered and were then massacred. One account, by a Catholic friar named O Meallain, says that the corpses of the Irish foot soldiers were found with their hands tied. A recent study (Padraig Lenihan, Confederate Catholics at War, Cork 2001), suggests that the Irishmen probably tried to surrender, but that, according to the conventions of 17th century warfare, this had to be accepted before it entitled them to safety. In this case, it was not accepted and the infantrymen were butchered.
Around 3000 Confederate troops and a small number of Parliamentarians died at Dungan's Hill. One of the English regimental commanders, Colonel Anthony Hungerford, was shot in the mouth, a wound that invalided him out of the English Army. Most of the dead were Irish infantrymen killed in the last stage of the battle. Those prisoners who were taken were mainly officers, whom the Parliamentarians could either ransom or exchange for prisoners of their own. Richard Talbot (later Earl of Tyrconnell and Lord Deputy of Ireland
Lord Deputy of Ireland
The Lord Deputy was the King's representative and head of the Irish executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and later the Kingdom of Ireland...
, but then a junior cavalry officer) was among the Confederate prisoners.
In the immediate aftermath of the battle, Owen Roe's Ulster Army marched through the pass of Portlester Mill to mount an effective rearguard action, routing Jones' advanced brigade and enabling the survivors of the Leinster army to escape. Jones, fearing O'Neills army, did not continue the pursuit and returned to Dublin. O'Neill and his Ulstermen returned four months later to bury the dead Confederates.