BattlefieldsBattle of Mullaghmast
Tudor

Battle of Mullaghmast

1577
Kildare, Ireland
Era
Tudor
Battle Type
Skirmish
Location
Kildare, Ireland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Leinster Irish
Forces
c.100–200 Leinster Irish lords; ambush.
VS
Victor
English Crown
Forces
c.150–250 English Crown forces
Outcome
Massacre of Leinster leaders at a supposed parley
The Battle

History & Significance

English forces lured Leinster Irish lords to a parley at Mullaghmast in the Pale borderland and massacred them. The event became embedded in Irish historical memory as a byword for English treachery. It stoked the Second Desmond Rebellion and fuelled hatred of English rule. Yeats referenced Mullaghmast in his speeches centuries later.

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