Kinsale, battle of

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Kinsale, battle of, 1601. Around 4,000 Spanish troops sent to assist Hugh O'Neill, earl of Tyrone, against Elizabeth I landed in September 1601 on the south coast of Ireland at Kinsale, where they were besieged by Lord Mountjoy, who had taken over from Essex. On 24 December an attempt to relieve the town failed and the Spaniards surrendered on terms. Tyrone's power was broken and the Tudor conquest of Ireland completed.

J. A. Cannon

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