The siege of Cork in Ireland ended on 29 September 1690, 330 years ago today.

While William of Orange was conducting the siege of Limerick in 1690, the army in England was under the command of John Churchill (later Duke of Marlboro), who took the decision to lay siege to the city of Cork. William approved of the plan, regretting that he could not send artillery support, his own guns having been spiked by Patrick Sarsfield at Ballyneety.

Churchill's fleet set sail for Cork on 17 September 1690. It consisted of "80 ships great and small" and included 42 capi-tal ships, ten fire ships and seventeen Dutch vessels. The Duke of Wurtemberg, with 2,900 Danish, Dutch and Huguenot infantry and 390 horse, marched to his support. The Governor of Cork was a Kerryman, Colonel Roger MacElligott. The commander of the Jacobean Forces in Ireland, the Duke of Berwick, advised MacElligott to burn the city and withdraw to the west. MacElligott however, chose to defend Cork. Although the walls of the city were 50 feet high and in parts ten feet thick, the city was vulnerable to can-nonade from the hills to the north and south, and was considered by most experts to be indefensible.

Marlborough reached Cork by sea on 21 September 1690. His English forces were 5,000 strong and he also had at his disposal the fleet which blockaded the port of Cork. The troops, eight infantry regiments, disembarked at Passage West on 23 September. He captured several of the harbour's defences (including Fort Camden) and advanced on Cork. A regiment of about 800 men marched through Douglas and camped in the area of the Lough. A small contingent of Irish rebels attempted to block their passage but they were fired upon and killed.

Marlborough decided that he could exploit the main defensive disadvantage of the walled area: its low-lying position overlooked by hills. Control of the hills would mean control of the walled town. After advancing on the southern environs of the town, the English regiment set their sights on Cat Barracks, which was adjacent to the southern road leading to South Gate Drawbridge. This was a small barracks, constructed in 1685 by Thomas Philips, used as a storage depot for the firearms of nearby Elizabeth Fort. The rebels retreated into the town as the English advanced, setting fire to the southern suburbs as they did so – the area now occupied by Douglas Street, Cove Street and Barrack Street.

Marlborough set up his base at Red Abbey to the south of the walled city, which was used as a vantage point and battery. Approaching from the northern, landward, side were the 4,000 Danish troops under Eberhard Louis, Duke of Württemberg. Marlborough dispatched General Ginkel and General Scravenmoer to secure the northern liberties of the town with the assistance of a cavalry comprising 1,200 men. An infantry consisting of Dutch soldiers under the command of a Major-General Tettau was also dispatched. At this point, Scravenmoer sent a message to the leader of the rebels, known as Colonel Mc Ellicutt, asking him not to burn any part of the city. The governor replied that he was not afraid of the advancing army and would burn what he saw fit.   

The siege of Cork began on 25 September. Churchill's forces took up position on the heights to the north, at Shandon, and to the south, at the Cat and Elizabeth Forts.

Supported by the guns of a man-of-war, Salamander, the bombardment began. In the afternoon of 23 September 1690, Tettau ordered the cannons to be transferred from their camp in the northern liberties to Fair Hill, just to the west of present-day Commons Road. This was an attempt to mount an assault on Shandon Castle. The rebels again set fire to the suburbs, this time around Shandon, and retreated within the safety of the town walls. Even an old church called Shandon was burned along with the Franciscan Friary on the North Mall.

On Thursday, 25 September, Col. Hale and two hundred members of his regiment advanced on Cat Barracks and, finding it deserted, immediately took possession of it. At this time the focus of the attack moved towards Elizabeth Fort, the stronghold of the Jacobite side.

Bombardment of South Gate Bridge and the eastern wall also began. During the night, the attackers moved closer to the fort and hid themselves in ditches and laneways.

On Friday, 26 September, constant bombardment of Elizabeth Fort resulted in the collapse of the wall above its gate and part of the adjacent bastion. Shells from a mortar were fired into the city, killing two or three people.

Meanwhile, on the northside, the Duke of Wurtemberg arrived at Scravemoer’s camp with a large force. Together, they made an advance on Shandon Castle, which they found also deserted. Scravemoer sent all his cavalry to join Marlborough on the southside, just by the site of present-day St. FinBarre’s Cathedral.

On Saturday, 27 September, the bombardment of the city escalated. The cannons concentrated on breaching the eastern wall, a point now marked by the City Library on the Grand Parade. Scravemoer decided to use the spire of St. FinBarre’s Cathedral as a vantage point from which to fire into the town.  Lieutenant Horatio Townsend was chosen along with two files of men to mount a gun on top of the spire. The governor of Elizabeth Fort was killed by a musket shot from the spire. In retaliation, the Jacobite soldiers aimed two guns at the steeple and shook it immensely. Townshend is reputed to have refused to yield, ordering the access ladder to be removed from the base of the cathedral.  Eventually, however, he was forced to retreat.

It was soon obvious that Cork could not hold out against the bombardment of the city from the heights. There were several reasons for this. Large portions of the town walls, North and South Main Streets, laneways and houses had been destroyed. The leader of the rebels, Mac Elligott, noticed that there were significant breaches in the wall and that the enemy had dug large ditches on adjacent marshy islands in an attempt to get closer to the town walls. In addition, Mac Elligott’s side was nearly out of ammunition. When a significant breach was opened in the city walls, the city's garrisoned opened surrender negotiations, asking to be allowed to leave Cork and join the main Jacobite army at Limerick. Mac Elligott’s terms of surrender included the plea not to burn the suburbs surrounding the walled town. Marlborough refused the request, although Württemberg was in favour of granting the terms at first, so the city was refused favourable terms of surrender. Mac Elligott’s request was denied, and he was obliged to sign the conditions of the Duke of Marlborough. The key figures on the rebel side were summarily executed, along with several members of their families, and the suburbs were burned and destroyed. Elizabeth Fort was surrendered within one hour of the signing of the agreement, as stipulated, and the town gates were surrendered the following Monday morning 29th September at eight o’clock. All arms and ammunition were left in a secure place for the English to collect. 5,000 Jacobite prisoners were captured.

The Williamite troops sacked the city doing a great deal of damage, looting much property and abusing the Catholic inhabitants. Many civilians were killed before Württemberg and Marlborough restored order.

Today, two interesting remnants of the can still be seen in the city. On is the corner of Grand Parade and Tuckey Street, embedded into the pavement. It is a cannon that was reputedly used in the battle; it is thought that it was later used as a mooring post for a quayside in the 1700s.

The second is a cannon ball fired from Elizabeth Fort at the tower of St FinBarre’s Cathedral. During the rebuilding of the cathedral in 1735-1738, this twenty-four-pound cannon ball was found embedded in the spire, about ten metres from the ground. It is now on display in the ambulatory of the present cathedral, swing over people's heads. The cannon ball is one of many quirky curiosities that can be seen inside the vast William Burges-designed French Gothic building.

The siege proved to be a major catalyst in initiating change in the physical and social landscape of the city. The siege effectively spelt the end of the defensive role of the walls of Cork. They were allowed to fall into disrepair and sections of them were demolished. Houses were built using the remains of the town walls as foundations - a humble, but practical, use for the once proud walls of Cork.Very little now remains of the old city walls apart from a section excavated and visible in Bishop Lucey Park on the Grand Parade.