Assault on the Blackwater Fort

Assault on the Blackwater Fort
Part of the Nine Years' War

The Blackwater Fort in a 1587 sketch
Date16 February 1595
Location
Blackwatertown, County Armagh, Ireland
54°24′45″N 6°42′20″W / 54.4126°N 6.7056°W / 54.4126; -6.7056
Result Irish victory
Belligerents
Irish alliance England Kingdom of England
Commanders and leaders
Art MacBaron O'Neill Edward Cornwall
Strength
~240 ~26
Casualties and losses
23 killed (15 at fort, 8 more died of wounds) Few

On 16 February 1595, a Gaelic Irish force assaulted and captured the English-held Blackwater Fort at Blackwatertown in County Armagh. The Irish were led by Art MacBaron O'Neill, brother of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and marked Tyrone's break with the English Crown as he openly waged war against the English forces in Ireland.