Battlefields›Battle site (Bendooragh)
English Civil War

Battle site (Bendooragh)

1642
northern_ireland
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
northern_ireland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Government force under Archibald Stewart
VS
Victor
Irish rebels
Forces involved

Irish rebels

a Government force commanded by Archibald Stewart

Outcome
Victory for the Irish rebels; the Government force under Archibald Stewart was defeated.
The Battle

History & Significance

Bendooragh (from Irish Bun Dúraí, meaning 'bottomland of black soil') is a small village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, 2+1⁄2 miles (4.0 km) south west of Ballymoney. It is part of Causeway Coast and Glens District Council. It had a population of 622 people (217 households) in the 2011 census.

The village is located at the edge of the Ballymoney/Coleraine Green Belt and developed over the post-war period from a crossroads cluster at the junction of the Bann, Drumahiskey and Bendooragh Roads. The village stands near the site of Aenach Cross, the ancient capital of the Route. Bendooragh was the scene of a battle in 1642 where Irish rebels defeated a Government force under Archibald Stewart. During the 1950s public authority housing was built and in the past decade private housing has also been completed. An Orange Hall and fabrication works are located within the hamlet, and there is a church and church hall just outside on the Bann Road.The former Bendooragh National School still stands.

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle site (Bendooragh) lies on Lough Neagh Clays Group, bedrock that formed in the Oligocene. The rock here is clay and lignite.

Buried history

Bendooragh was the scene of a battle in 1642 in which Irish rebels succeeded in defeating a Government force commanded by Archibald Stewart, marking a notable moment of conflict in County Antrim during a period of widespread Irish rebellion.

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Everything a full report reveals about Battle site (Bendooragh)

This page covers Battle site (Bendooragh). A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman World
Ireland was never conquered by Rome, so this traces the island's Iron Age kingdoms and its contact with the Roman world.
Historic Records
The 19th-century records of this place: valuations, Ordnance Survey memoirs and topographical accounts.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Battle site (Bendooragh)

Mound, possible motte
Mound, possible motte
Scheduled monument · UNCERTAIN · ~1 mi

Mound, possible motte is an uncertain earthwork located near Ballymoney in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The monument consists of a mound whose precise date and function remain unclear, though its form suggests it may be a motte, the earthen stronghold typical of Norman settlement in medieval…

Mount sandel. mesolithic settlement site
Mount sandel. mesolithic settlement site
Scheduled monument · MESOLITHIC · ~6.4 mi

Mount Sandel is a Mesolithic settlement site located at Coleraine in Northern Ireland. The site occupies a distinctive position on bedrock composed of Palaeogene extrusive rocks, principally mafic lava and tuff laid down during the Paleogene period. This volcanic geology, now weathered and settle…

Tidal ford & mesolithic material
Tidal ford & mesolithic material
Scheduled monument · ~6.8 mi

Tidal ford & mesolithic material is a ford located at Coleraine in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The crossing lies on bedrock formed during the Palaeogene period, comprising mafic lava and mafic tuff that provides a natural causeway across the water. As a tidal ford, it would have been pa…

Rath
Rath
Scheduled monument · E.CHRIST. · ~6.9 mi

Rath — a is an early Christian rath situated in Coleraine, Northern Ireland. The monument occupies ground underlain by Palaeogene extrusive rocks, a geology of mafic lava and tuff that shaped the landscape during the early Tertiary period. This volcanic bedrock would have influenced both the sett…

Macosquin, merchant taylors' buildings. plantation village site with mill, house & bawn
Macosquin, merchant taylors' buildings. plantation village site with mill, house & bawn
Scheduled monument · POST-MED · ~7.1 mi

Macosquin is a post-medieval plantation village site situated near Coleraine in Northern Ireland. The settlement comprises the remains of a merchant tailors' building complex, a house, a bawn—a defensive enclosure typical of early modern Irish plantations—and a mill. These structures represent th…

Sweat house
Sweat house
Scheduled monument · UNCERTAIN · ~7.4 mi

Sweat house at Coleraine is a possible sweat house of uncertain date and form, situated in County Londonderry in the north of Ireland. The monument lies on bedrock composed of Palaeogene extrusive rocks, principally mafic lava and tuff formed during volcanic activity in the early Tertiary period.…

Raised rath (or motte?)
Scheduled monument · E.CHRIST. · ~0.6 miles
Agivey, agivey bawn, ironmongers' buildings. plantation village site, house, bawn & mill
Scheduled monument · POST-MED · ~1.6 miles
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Sources
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