Irish rebels English Army | Period 1641 – March 1642 | |
~6000 ~2000, later reinforced Result Siege broken by English reinforcements Similar Irish Confederate Wars, Irish Rebellion of 1641, Battle of Knocknanuss, Battle of Benburb, Battle of Rathmines | ||
The first Siege of Drogheda took place in 1641-42, during the Irish Rebellion of 1641. A Catholic force under Féilim Ó Néill (a.k.a. Phelim O'Neill) laid siege to the town and assaulted it twice but failed to take it. The siege was broken by English troops sent from Dublin.
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O'Neill's force arrives
After their victory over government troops at battle of Julianstown, an Irish rebel force under Phelim O'Neill laid siege to Drogheda in December 1641. The rebels, who were mostly from Ulster and about 6000 strong, did not have siege artillery (or indeed any artillery) to breach the walls of Drogheda and so blockaded the town, hoping to starve it into surrender. Drogheda was garrisoned by about 2,000 English soldiers under Colonel Tichborne.
Assaults on Drogheda
The rebels tried three assaults on the town. On the first occasion they simply tried to rush the walls. In their second attempt, a small party of 500 men broke into the town at night through dilapidated sections of the walls, with the aim of opening the gates for a storming party of 700 men outside. However, the initial incursion was repulsed in confused fighting and in the morning, the garrison opened the gates to rebels outside, only to take them prisoner once they entered the town. The rebels tried for a final time in March 1642, when a relief of the town was imminent, attacking the walls with scaling ladders, but were again repulsed.
Siege lifted
Shortly afterwards, English reinforcements arrived from Dublin, under Colonel Moore, who was later created the Earl of Drogheda. They broke the rebel siege and also drove them out of Dundalk and back into Ulster.
A second, more famous siege took place in 1649, when Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army took the town and massacred its by then Royalist and Catholic garrison. See Siege of Drogheda.