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The Battle of Arklow took place during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 on June 9 when a rebel force from Wexford, estimated at 10,000 strong, launched an assault into County Wicklow, on the British-held town of Arklow, in an attempt to spread the rebellion into Wicklow and to threaten the capital of Dublin.

The Government’s first counter attack against the rebels had ended in failure following a heavy and demoralising defeat at Tuberneering on June 4. The rebel victory had punched a massive hole in the dragnet the military had attempted to throw around county Wexford and had also yielded them significant amounts of weapons, supplies and artillery. The town of Arklow had been evacuated in the ensuing panic but the rebels had contented themselves with taking the town of Gorey and stayed within the Wexford border. When the rebels finally moved against Arklow, the town had been reoccupied by a force of 1,700 men sent from Dublin under Francis Needham, who quickly fortified the town with barricades and had artillery positioned on all the approaches to the town.

Flag carried by rebels at battle of Arklow

The rebel army that formed for attack on the afternoon of 9 June was a combined force of Wexford and Wicklow rebels led by Billy Byrne, Anthony Perry, Edward Fitzgerald and Fr. Michael Murphy. The area surrounding the town and the approaches was covered by scrub and the rebel strategy adopted was to advance under cover attacking the town simultaneously from several points. Before the action began, the rebels under Esmonde Kane opened fire upon the town with some of the artillery captured at Tuberneering and had some success by scoring a direct hit on a British artillery position, destroying the cannon and killing the attendant crew. The main assault was quickly launched but at all entry points the rebels were blown back by the musket fire, grapeshot and cannonade of the well trained and disciplined British regulars. An attempt to turn the rebel failure into a rout was defeated when rebel pikemen and sharpshooters drove a cavalry charge back across the Avoca River, but an attempt to force a way into the town through the outlying fishing port was bloodily repulsed.

As rebel casualties mounted, the lack of ammunition and proper leadership began to work against the rebels, and after Fr. Murphy was killed leading a charge their attacks started to peter out. As nightfall came the rebels began to withdraw under cover of darkness and collect their wounded and were not pursued or molested by the garrison who were, unknown to the rebels, down to their last three or four rounds per man and were themselves at the brink of defeat. The rebels left behind over 1,000 dead in and around the town with casualties to the garrison amounting to some 60 dead and 100 wounded.

The defeat at Arklow marked the third failure to extend the rebellion beyond the borders of Co. Wexford following the other bloody repulses at New Ross and Bunclody. The rebel strategy now changed to a policy of static defence against the encroaching British armies.

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