Gibbet Rath massacre
Encyclopedia : G : GI : GIB : Gibbet Rath massacre
| 1798 Rebellion |
|---|
| Ballymore-Eustace – Naas – Prosperous – Kilcullen – Carlow – Tara Hill – Oulart Hill – Newtownmountkennedy – Gibbet Rath – Three Rocks – Bunclody – Tuberneering – New Ross – Antrim – Arklow - Saintfield – Ballynahinch – Ovidstown – Foulksmills – Vinegar Hill – Ballyellis – Castlebar – Collooney – Ballinamuck – Killala |
Acting on news of the outbreak of the rebellion, Major-General Sir James Duff, Military Commander in Limerick, gathered a force of about 600 infantry, dragoons and yeomen backed up by seven artillery pieces, and set out on a forced march to Dublin on 27 May. His objective was to restore communications between the two cities and crush any resistance encountered on the way.
By the time Duff's column arrived in Monasterevan in Co. Kildare, the bulk of the rebel forces had following defeat at the battles of Kilcullen, accepted a Government amnesty and had surrendered at Knockaulin Hill or were gathering to surrender in the Curragh. Upon receiving news of the "rebel" gathering, Duff reinforced his column and marched to the designated place of surrender at Gibbet Rath, a wide expanse of plain with little or no cover for miles around, and launched a fearful infantry and cavalry attack on the disarmed and surrounded rebels, butchering about 350 of them.
Duff alleged that the rebels fired first and that he lost three killed and more wounded in the "battle" but surviving rebel accounts insisted that the attack was unprovoked and launched when one rebel discharged his gun in the air before surrendering though it was obvious to all that it was not a hostile act.
Duff redrafted his own official report of the engagement before submission to Dublin Castle, his final draft omitting any reference to his knowledge of the surrender preparations. Upon his arrival in Dublin the following day, Duff was feted as a hero by the loyalist population who honoured him with a victory parade. He was later involved in an unsuccessful campaign following the battle of Vinegar Hill to trap and destroy a surviving rebel column in Wexford led by Anthony Perry who fought off Duffs forces at the battle of Ballygullen/Whiteheaps on 5th July.
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