The Second Battle of Athenry took place on the 10th August 1316 and was one of the most decisive battles of the Bruce Wars. It was in many ways part of a war within a war, as Felim mac Aedh Ua Conchobair wished to make himself Supreme King of Connacht, without opposition, and to expell the Normans to regain the lands and power that his family had enjoyed prior to their arrival in 1232. He gathered an impressive array of allies - the Kings of Meath, Brefine, Annaly, Leney, Ui Maine, Ui Fiachrach Muaidhe, and Munster. Events Pope John XXII elected to the papacy. ... Events Canonization of Saint Anthony of Padua, patron of lost items Pope Gregory IX driven from Rome by a revolt, taking refuge at Anagni First edition of Tripitaka Koreana destroyed by Mongol invaders Births Manfred of Sicily Arnolfo di Cambio, a Florentine architect (may have been born in 1245) Deaths...

Their collective forces are thought to number as much as 20,000, who were opposed by the Normans of Connaught and their two most prominent leaders; Richard Og de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster, and de Bermingham, Lord of Athenry. Richard Og de Burgh, also known as Richard de Burgh, was the 2nd Earl of Ulster, 3rd Lord of Connacht. ...

The battle apparently took place on the boggy plain and eskers to the east of the town, outside the towergate called The Laragh Gate. Twenty-three year old King Felim was one of the many casualties; a place called the White Stone, lying to the east of an esker overlooking Athenry upon the Laragh road, is traditionally pointed out as the place where his body was found. Eskers are long, winding ridges of stratified sand and gravel which occur in glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Europe and North America. ... Athenry (Irish: Átha an Rí) is an agricultural town in County Galway, Ireland. ...

The battle is reputed to have one of the highest death rates — an estimated 10,000, mainly on the Irish side — of any battle ever fought in Ireland, rating it on a par with Clontarf, Knockdoe and Aughrim. One of the immediate after-effects of it was the building of the town walls in an incredible five years. This was said to be because so much abandoned booty was retrived from the remains of the Irish army. Over two thirds of the walls of Athenry still stand, making it the only town in Europe with so much of its medieval walls still intact. The Battle of Clontarf took place on Good Friday in 1014 ( April 23) between the forces of Brian Boru, the king of Munster and High King of Ireland, and forces led primarily by Vikings from Dublin and the Orkney Islands, as well and the King of Leinster. ... The Battle of Aughrim was the decisive battle of the Williamite war in Ireland. ...

The Second Battle of Athenry marked the definitive end of the power of the Ua Conchobair or O'Connor's as Kings of Connacht. The decades following marked the high point of Norman rule in Connacht, and the rise of the towns of Athenry and Galway as centres of economic and political power and wealth. This article is about the city in Ireland. ...

In the long run however, after the death of the Red Earl in 1326 and especially as a result of the Burke Civil War 1333-38, Norman power in Connacht fragmented. The Normans as a distinct power were dissipated, becoming "more Irish than the Irish themselves." For example, the Norman families of de la Val, Lawless, Dolphin, who would have fought at Athenry as liegemen of the de Burgh and de Bermingham, were within generations Irish clans led by chieftains; all of these families are still found in the Athenry-Loughrea area.

All allegiance to the Crown was abandoned by the de Burghs and de Berminghams; it would be fully two hundred years before English Kings could even begin to bring the Irish of Connacht under their control, a process that was only fully achieved by William III in 1692. William III King of England, Scotland and Ireland William III and II (14 November 1650–8 March 1702; also known as William Henry and William of Orange) was Prince of Orange from his birth, King of England and Ireland from 13 February 1689, and King of Scotland from 11 April...

Account of the Second Battle of Athenry from the Annals of Connacht

"On hearing that William Burke had come into Connacht from Scotland, Feidlim called upon his subjects to assemble an army to expel him; and the army was assembled from all the region between Assaroe and Aughty. Moreover Donnchad O Briain, king of Thomond, came with his assembled host, and

• O Maelsechlainn, king of Meath,
• O Ruairc, king of Brefne,
• O Fergail, king of the Conmaicne,
• Tadc O Cellaig, king of Ui Maine,

and many more of the kings' and chieftains' sons of Ireland assembled to him."

"And they all marched to Athenry to oppose William Burke, Mac Feorais, and the other Connacht Galls, and joined battle with them in front of the town."

"The Gaels were defeated and Feidlim O Conchobair, who was king of Connacht and entitled to become King of Ireland without opposition, was killed there and Tadc O Cellaig, king of Ui Maine fell with him, together with twenty-eight men who were entitled to succeed to the kingship of Ui Maine. Magnus son of Domnall O Conchobair, tanist of Connacht, was killed, as were:"

• Art O hEgra, king of Leyney,
• Maelsechlainn Carrach O Dubda,
• Muirchertach son of Conchobar O Dubda,
• Conchobar Oc O Dubda,
• Diarmait Mac Diarmata, an eligible prince of Moylurg,
• Muirchertach son of Taichlech Mac Diarmata,
• Muirchertach son of Diarmait son of Fergal Mac Diarmata,
• Maelsechlainn Oc Mac Magnusa,
• Sean son of Murchad O Matadain,
• Domnall son of Aed O Con Chenainn, king of the Ui Diarmata, and
• Muirchertach his brother, *Murchad O Matadain,
• Domnall O Baigill,
• Donnchad O Mailmuaid and his followers,
• the son of Murchad Mag Mathgamna and a hundred of his men,
• Niall Sinnach, king of Tethba, and his followers,
• Fergal son of Seoan Gallda O Fergail,
• Uilliam son of Aed Oc O Fergail,
• Tomas son of Amlaib O Fergail.
• Five of the Clann Donnchaid fell there, viz.
  • Tomaltach son of Gilla Crist Mac Donnchaid,
  • Murchad Mac Donnchaid,
  • Conchobar son of Tadc,
  • Muirchertach and Maelsechlainn Mac Donnchaid.
• Eoin Mac Aedacain, brehon to O Conchobair,
• Gilla na Naem son of Dail re Docair O Dobailein, the standardbearer, and
• Tomas O Conallain

fell around their lord.

"Moreover it is hard to say how many of the men of Munster and of Meath and of Ireland generally were killed there; in the words of the poet: ‘Many of the men of all Ireland [lay dead] about that great field; many a king's son, whom I name not, of the Meath and Munster hosts was filled in that great rout; my heart rues the fight.’ These deeds were done on the day of St. Laurence Martyr. Fedlimid was a man of twenty-three when he was killed, and he reigned for five years till Ruaidri son of Cathal usurped the kingship from him for half a year, and he reigned again for half a year after Ruaidri's death till he was slain in this battle of Athenry."

See also

• History of Ireland
• Irish battles