Battle of Antrim

The Battle of Antrim was fought on 7 June 1798, in the county Antrim in Ulster, Ireland during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 between British troops and Irish insurgents led by Henry Joy McCracken. The British won the battle, beating off a rebel attack on Antrim town following the arrival of reinforcements but the county governor, Lord O'Neill, was fatally wounded.

Background

The outbreak of the United Irish rebellion in Leinster on 23 May had prompted calls from Ulster United Irishmen to take to the field in support of their southern comrades. However, the organisation in Ulster had been severely damaged in a brutal disarmament campaign the previous year, and the new leadership were less radical and were not willing take to the field without French assistance, which was expected daily.

After waiting for two weeks while the rebellion raged in the south, the grassroots United Irish membership in Antrim decided to hold a number of meetings independent of the leadership. The outcome was the election Henry Joy McCracken as their adjutant general and the decision to rise immediately. McCracken, together with James Hope, quickly formulated a plan to attack and seize all government outposts in county Antrim and then for the main attack to fall on Antrim town. Then using artillery seized at Antrim, the rebels were to march on Belfast in conjunction with the United Irish rebels in County Down.

McCracken had high hopes that many members of the militia would desert and join him as...
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