Battle of Clones facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Battle of Clones
Part of the Irish Confederate Wars
Date 13 June 1643 Location Clones, County Monaghan, Ireland Result Royalist victory
Belligerents
Irish Confederates	Royalists
Commanders and leaders
Owen Roe O'Neill	Sir Robert Stewart
Units involved
Ulster Army	Laggan Army
Strength
c. 1,600	c. 3,000
Casualties and losses
c. 150	29

Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill was a skilled Irish military leader.

The Battle of Clones happened on June 13, 1643. It was part of the Irish Confederate Wars. Near Clones in County Monaghan, Irish Confederate soldiers were badly beaten. These soldiers were led by Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill, also known as Owen Roe O'Neill. They were defeated by the Protestant Laggan Army, led by Sir Robert Stewart.

Why the Battle Happened: The Background

In October 1641, a big uprising called the Irish Rebellion began in Ireland. For many years, there was fighting, especially in Ulster, a northern part of Ireland. The main groups fighting were the Irish Catholic Confederates and Scottish forces.

After about ten months, the Confederates weren't winning many battles. So, they put Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill, a brave Irish Catholic soldier, in charge of their army in Ulster. His army wasn't very well trained. Ó Néill tried to train his soldiers during the end of 1642 and early 1643. But Ulster was a dangerous place. He decided to move his army to a safer area until they were fully ready to fight.

Who Fought: The Armies and Their Leaders

Owen Roe O'Neill and the Irish Confederate Army

Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill was born in 1585. He came from an old Irish royal family. As a boy, he saw Ireland fighting for freedom against Queen Elizabeth in the Nine Years' War. After Ireland lost, Ó Néill, like many young Irishmen, left home. He joined the Spanish army in Flanders and fought in the Eighty Years’ War.

Ó Néill spent over 30 years as a soldier for Spain. He became a very good general. He was famous for defending Arras in 1640. He always wanted to return to Ireland and lead a rebellion. His friends in the Irish army encouraged him to do so.

In July 1642, Ó Néill came back to Ireland. He brought weapons, supplies, and 200 experienced soldiers from Flanders. By then, Catholic leaders in Ireland had formed the Irish Catholic Confederation. They wanted to continue the fight for Catholic rights. Within two months, Ó Néill became the commander of their army in Ulster. The Confederates hoped he would make their army stronger and better trained. They wanted him to turn their disorganized fighters into a real army.

Ó Néill set up his base at Charlemont Fort in Ulster. He started building his army in late summer 1642. But there was another army in Ulster: Scottish Covenanters. They had come to Ireland to protect Scottish settlers. Their main base was at Carrickfergus. They controlled several areas in eastern Ulster. From September 1642 to spring 1643, the Covenanters tried to attack Charlemont and destroy Ó Néill's army four times. Also, Ó Néill's forces were attacked by the Laggan Army. This was an Ulster-Scots group from a district in eastern County Donegal.

Because his untrained army was often attacked, and there wasn't enough food in Ulster, Ó Néill decided to move his troops west. He wanted to go to parts of Ireland controlled by the Confederates. On June 9, Ó Néill sent messages to his commanders. He told them to meet him at Clones.

Sir Robert Stewart and the Laggan Army

When the rebellion started, many Protestant settlers lost their homes. Their houses were burned, and their belongings were taken. These settlers became refugees. Many were in great danger from Irish rebels. Thousands of Protestants went to safe places or tried to leave Ireland.

At that time, rich Protestant landowners in northwest Ulster, like Sir William Stewart and his brother Sir Robert Stewart, decided to protect their lands. They formed their own fighting groups. The Stewarts were Scottish settlers. They had served the English King in the military. For their service, they received large areas of land in Ireland during the colonization of Ulster.

The Stewarts were highly respected. After the rebellion began, King Charles allowed them to create a regiment of 1,000 foot soldiers and a troop of horsemen for the King. This group became known as the Laggan Army. At first, they protected The Laggan, a strong Protestant area in East Donegal. They also protected parts of Tyrone and Londonderry. As the war went on, the Laggan Army became the most powerful Royalist group in Ulster. They defended Protestant strongholds, helped refugees, attacked Irish rebels, and supported other Royalist groups.

William Stewart was the first leader of the Laggan Army. But Robert Stewart soon took overall command. He had a lot of experience from fighting in the Thirty Years' War in Europe. Robert Stewart was good at finding men and training them. His soldiers had better equipment than the Confederates, especially muskets.

The Battle of Clones

Ó Néill's Ulster Army was moving towards Clones. It was a large group, estimated to be about 3,100 people. This included 1,600 fighting men, their families, supply wagons, and even cattle. Most of the fighting men were untrained foot soldiers with poor weapons. There were only a few cavalry (horseback) soldiers.

As Ó Néill's army traveled, Stewart found out about their movement. Stewart quickly gathered his own force. He had about 3,000 men, including both foot soldiers and cavalry. He planned to stop Ó Néill.

Ó Néill reached Clones before the Laggan Army. He kept marching south towards Scotshouse. As he started to cross the Finn River, he realized Stewart was coming from the north. Ó Néill wanted to get most of his army across the river to avoid a direct fight. But his commanders decided the Irish would take defensive positions north of the river and fight.

There was no time to build defenses. Ó Néill placed his men along a stone road. This road was mostly surrounded by bogs. At the narrowest part of the road, closest to Stewart's army, Ó Néill put 100 musketeers. He then placed most of his foot soldiers in defensive spots further south along the road.

While his foot soldiers were getting ready, Ó Néill led a small group of cavalry north. He wanted to see how close Stewart's army was and try to slow them down. He soon met the first cavalry of Stewart's army. There was a quick fight, and Ó Néill quickly went back to his main army. As the Laggan Army came closer, Stewart sent some cavalry to attack Ó Néill's musketeers. Stewart's men drove off the musketeers. Then they went back to get ready for a full cavalry attack on the Irish army. Before Stewart's cavalry could attack, Ó Néill sent his own cavalry to fight the Royalists. For a short time, the cavalry battle was a draw.

While the cavalry fought, an Irish commander, Shane Og O’Neill, ordered his group of foot soldiers to leave their defensive spots. He wanted to attack the Laggan foot soldiers. This was against his orders to stay in position. But he hoped to surprise the enemy. However, Shane O’Neill's group didn't reach their target. The Laggan cavalry quickly turned and attacked the Irish foot soldiers. After about 30 minutes of fighting, the Irish foot soldiers started to break and run away. At that moment, Stewart moved forward with his Laggan foot soldiers. As the fleeing Confederates were chased, they crashed into the rest of their own army. This caused a lot of confusion. All the Irish soldiers, both foot and cavalry, started to run away.

Seeing what was happening, Ó Néill stopped fighting. He tried to organize a more orderly retreat. But many of his men kept running away in a disorganized way, chased by the Laggan cavalry.

In this short battle, the Irish lost most of their supplies. About 150 men were killed. Many of these were the experienced officers who had come back with Ó Néill from Flanders. The Laggan Army had very few losses: six men killed and 23 injured.

What Happened Next

Many of the Irish soldiers scattered and hid in the countryside. Ó Néill was able to gather them again and continue his march into the center of Ireland. Stewart could not leave his base in East Donegal unprotected to chase Ó Néill further. So, he just took the supplies left behind by the Confederates and went home. Ó Néill was able to get new soldiers. But his plans were greatly affected because he lost the experienced officers and soldiers he had brought from Flanders. After this battle, the province of Ulster was completely controlled by the enemies of the Irish rebellion: the Laggan Army, the Covenanters, and the English.