Eoghan Rua O'Neill, Defeats Robert Munro’s Scottish Army at Benburb in Co. Tyrone
June 05, 1646
Eoghan Rua Ó Néill, a brilliant Irish military commander, achieves a decisive victory over Robert Monro’s Scottish Covenanter army at the Battle of Benburb in County Tyrone on 5 June 1646. Leading the forces of the Irish Confederate Catholics, Ó Néill expertly used the terrain and timing to rout a larger and better-equipped enemy.
The battle marked one of the most significant Irish victories during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It dealt a major blow to the Protestant-Covenanter alliance in Ulster and bolstered the position of the Catholic Confederates.
News of the victory was celebrated in Rome, where Pope Innocent X ordered a Te Deum (a hymn of thanksgiving) to be sung in St. Peter’s Basilica—an extraordinary gesture that recognized Ó Néill’s triumph as both a military success and a Catholic cause.