⚔ Battlefields of Britain

Siege of Donegal 1601

Siege of Donegal: Donegal Friary Choir 2009
Image: Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Marker: recorded battle location (no official boundary).

Key facts

Date (year)1601Wikidata P585 point in time
Century17th centuryderived
PeriodTudor & early Stuartderived
CountryIrelandderived
War / conflictNine Years' WarWikidata

About the battle

The siege of Donegal took place from August to September 1601 during the Nine Years' War in Ireland, when a Gaelic Irish army led by Hugh Roe O'Donnell laid siege to the town of Donegal. The garrison of the town was a mixture of English troops and allied Gaelic troops led by Niall Garve O'Donnell. Heavy fighting took place during the month-long siege in which Donegal Abbey was destroyed by an accidental gunpowder explosion. Having suffered several repulses, Hugh Roe O'Donnell abandoned the siege and moved his army southwards to Munster where a Spanish force had arrived to support the Irish which culminated in the Battle of Kinsale. In his absence, Crown forces were able to use Donegal as a base to capture the strategic town of Ballyshannon.

Conn O'Donnell was killed during the siege, while fighting for the Crown.

Visiting the battlefield

Location

  • Recorded location (Wikidata; may be approximate): 54.6500, -8.1170

Battlefields are often on private farmland: please keep to public rights of way and respect landowners.

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Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Donegal (revision 1370740777), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations removed. No text added.

Battle location from Wikidata (CC0).

Nearby battlefields

Other battles of the Nine Years' War

All battles of the Nine Years' War →

Browse more: battles in County Donegal · battles in Ireland · Tudor & early Stuart · 17th century battles

Further reading