This Day in Military History · November 9

1580 Second Desmond Rebellion: The Siege of Smerwick ends with the Catholic garrison surrendering to the English forces under Arthur Grey. The majority of the garrison is massacred the next day.

The siege of Smerwick took place at Ard na Caithne (the Hill of the Arbutus Tree, known in English as Smerwick) in November 1580, during the Second Desmond Rebellion in Ireland. A force of between 400 and 700 Papal freelance soldiers, mostly of Spanish and Italian origin, landed at Smerwick to support the Catholic rebels. They were forced to retreat to the nearby promontory fort of Dún an Óir, where they were besieged by the English. The Papal commander parleyed and was bribed, and the defenders surrendered within a few days.

Read more: Siege of Smerwick Text and image from Wikipedia