Siege of Donegal

Who Fought

History & Significance

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.

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O'Clery, Lughaidh; O'Clery, Cucogry; Murphy, Denis (1895). Beatha Aodha Ruaidh ui Dhomhnaill. The life of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, prince of Tirconnell (1586-1602). Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013. Dublin: Fallon & Co.

O'Sullivan Beare, Philip (1903) . Chapters towards a History of Ireland in the reign of Elizabeth. Translated by Byrne, Matthew J. CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts. Archived from the original on 10 March 2024.

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McGinty, Matthew (29 November 2024). "Red Hugh O'Donnell, Niall Garbh O'Donnell and the Siege of Donegal Abbey". Tales from Early Modern Ireland. Retrieved 26 June 2025.

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The ground they fought on

The site of Siege of Donegal lies on Sherwood Sandstone Group, bedrock that formed in the Ladinian. The rock here is sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Scheduled Monuments near Siege of Donegal

Sirocco works. georgian glassworks

Scheduled monument · C18TH/C19TH · ~0.9 mi

Sirocco Works is a Georgian glassworks situated in Belfast, Northern Ireland, occupying land underlain by Sherwood Sandstone Group bedrock. This geological foundation, comprising sandstone, siltstone and mudstone deposited during the Ladinian period, provided a stable base for the intensive indus…

Brick chimney stack (ihr no.10336)

Scheduled monument · MODERN · ~1.7 mi

Brick chimney stack (IHR no. 10336) is a modern industrial chimney constructed from brick, standing in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The monument represents the industrial heritage of the city during the period of rapid urban expansion and manufacturing growth. Its location at grid reference J323807…

Fort william. artillery fort

Scheduled monument · POST-MED · ~2.5 mi

Fort William is an artillery fort located in Belfast, Northern Ireland, constructed as a post-medieval fortification. Built on bedrock of the Mercia Mudstone Group—a geological formation of mudstone, sandstone and limestone dating to the Rhaetian period—the fort's position on this relatively soft…

Platform rath

Scheduled monument · E.CHRIST. · ~2.7 mi

Platform rath is an early Christian earthwork monument situated in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The site comprises a raised circular or oval platform, a characteristic form of defended or prestige residence dating to the early medieval period in Ireland. Platform raths of this type typically served…

Rath

Scheduled monument · E.CHRIST. · ~3.2 mi

Rath at Castlereagh is an early Christian earthwork situated on bedrock of the Gala Group, wacke-type deposits formed during the Telychian period of the Ordovician. The monument lies within the historic landscape of east County Antrim, where such ringforts were characteristic domestic and defensi…

Lagan navigation. canal

Scheduled monument · MODERN · ~4.5 mi

Lagan Navigation is a modern canal that forms a significant feature of Belfast's urban landscape. Constructed to improve transport links through the city, the canal was engineered to navigate the Lagan valley, where the underlying bedrock comprises the Sherwood Sandstone Group. This geological fo…

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• Siege of Donegal · Wikipedia