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Battle of Curlew Pass | |||||||
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Part of the Nine Years' War | |||||||
The 'Gaelic Chieftain' statue overlooks the N4 bypass, but is 2 kilometers north east of the battlefield. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Irish Government Kingdom of England | Rebels | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Sir Conyers Clifford † Sir Alexander Radcliffe † Captain Ralph Constable Sir Griffin Markham (WIA) Sir Arthur Savage Henry Cosby † |
Red Hugh O'Donnell Brian Óg O'Rourke (WIA) Conor MacDermott | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
~1,700[1]
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~2,500
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
850 killed | Low | ||||||
The Battle of Curlew Pass was fought on 15 August 1599 during the campaign of the Earl of Essex in the Nine Years' War, between an English force under Sir Conyers Clifford and a rebel Irish force led by Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill (Red Hugh O'Donnell). The English were ambushed and routed while marching through a pass in the Curlew Mountains, near the town of Boyle, in the west of Ireland. The English forces suffered heavy casualties. Losses by allied Irish forces were not recorded but were probably minimal.