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| The '''Sack of Baltimore''' took place on June 20, 1631, when the village of ], West ], ], was attacked by ] |
The '''Sack of Baltimore''' took place on June 20, 1631, when the village of ], West ], ], was attacked by ] pirates from the North African ]. Ekin described their motivation to be ].<ref name="Ekien 2012">{{cite book|last1=Ekin|first1=Des|title=The Stolen Village: Baltimore and the Barbary Pirates|publisher=The O'Brien Press, 2012|isbn=1847174310, 9781847174314|page=Preface|pages=488|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mVmNAwAAQBAJ&dq=Barbary+pirates+Cornwall&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s|accessdate=22 March 2015}}</ref> The attack was the biggest single attack by the Barbary pirates on Ireland or Britain.<ref>http://www.baltimore.ie/heritage-history/the-sack-of-baltimore-1631.html</ref> The attack was led by a ] captain turned pirate, ] van Haarlem, also known as Murad Reis the Younger. Murad's force was led to the village by a man called Hackett, the captain of a fishing boat he had captured earlier, in exchange for his freedom. Hackett was subsequently hanged from the clifftop outside the village for his conspiracy. | ||
| == The attack == | == The attack == | ||
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| == Aftermath == | == Aftermath == | ||
| Perhaps 8,500 new slaves were needed annually in the ] and about 850,000 slaves were taken over the century from 1580 to 1680.<ref name="Davis 2011">{{cite web|last1=Davis|first1=Robert|title=British Slaves on the Barbary Coast|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/white_slaves_01.shtml|website=History|publisher=BBC|accessdate=22 March 2015}}</ref> | |||
| In the aftermath of the raid, the remaining settlers moved to ], and Baltimore was virtually deserted for generations. | In the aftermath of the raid, the remaining settlers moved to ], and Baltimore was virtually deserted for generations. | ||
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| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| * ] | |||
| *], a similar raid on Iceland | *], a similar raid on Iceland | ||
Revision as of 15:16, 22 March 2015
The Sack of Baltimore took place on June 20, 1631, when the village of Baltimore, West Cork, Ireland, was attacked by Barbary Pirates pirates from the North African Barbary Coast. Ekin described their motivation to be jihad. The attack was the biggest single attack by the Barbary pirates on Ireland or Britain. The attack was led by a Dutch captain turned pirate, Jan Janszoon van Haarlem, also known as Murad Reis the Younger. Murad's force was led to the village by a man called Hackett, the captain of a fishing boat he had captured earlier, in exchange for his freedom. Hackett was subsequently hanged from the clifftop outside the village for his conspiracy.
The attack
Murad's crew, made up of Dutchmen, Algerians and Ottoman Turks, launched their covert attack on the remote village on June 20, 1631. They captured 108 English settlers, who worked a pilchard industry in the village, and some local Irish people. The attack was focused on the area of the village known to this day as the Cove. The villagers were put in irons and taken to a life of slavery in North Africa. Some prisoners were destined to live out their days as galley slaves, while others would spend long years in the seclusion of the Sultan's harem or within the walls of the Sultan's palace as laborers. At most three of them ever saw Ireland again. One was ransomed almost at once and two others in 1646. Since several others are known to have been still alive in 1646 - why they were not ransomed is unclear. There are conspiracy theories relating to the raid. It has been suggested that Sir Walter Coppinger, a prominent Catholic lawyer and member of the leading Cork family, who had become the dominant power in the area after the death of Sir Thomas Crooke, 1st Baronet, the founder of the English colony, orchestrated the raid to gain control of the village from the local Gaelic chieftain, Fineen O'Driscoll. It was O'Driscoll who had licenced the lucrative pilchard industry in Baltimore to the English settlers. Suspicion also points to O'Driscoll's exiled relatives, who had fled to Spain after the Battle of Kinsale, and had no hope of inheriting Baltimore by legal means. On the other hand, Murad may have planned the raid without any help; it is notable that the authorities had advance intelligence of a planned raid on the Cork coast, although Kinsale was thought to be a more likely target than Baltimore.
Aftermath
Perhaps 8,500 new slaves were needed annually in the Barbary slave trade and about 850,000 slaves were taken over the century from 1580 to 1680.
In the aftermath of the raid, the remaining settlers moved to Skibbereen, and Baltimore was virtually deserted for generations.
The incident inspired Thomas Davis to write his famous poem, The Sack of Baltimore. Evidently, Davis thought that the enslaved were O'Driscolls rather than planters who displaced them.
A detailed account of the sack of Baltimore can be found in the book The Stolen Village: Baltimore and the Barbary Pirates by Des Ekin.
In 1999, the raid on Baltimore was portrayed in a screenplay titled "Roaring Water, The Sack of Baltimore", by Irish screenwriter Sean Boyle.
See also
- Slavery in North Africa
- The Turkish abductions, a similar raid on Iceland
References
- Ekin, Des. The Stolen Village: Baltimore and the Barbary Pirates. The O'Brien Press, 2012. p. Preface. ISBN 1847174310, 9781847174314. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help); More than one of|pages=and|page=specified (help) - http://www.baltimore.ie/heritage-history/the-sack-of-baltimore-1631.html
- http://www.baltimore.ie/heritage-history/the-sack-of-baltimore-1631.html
- Davis, Robert. "British Slaves on the Barbary Coast". History. BBC. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "And when to die a death of fire that noble maid they bore, She only smiled, O’Driscoll’s child; she thought of Baltimore."
External links
- Baltimore, West Cork County, Ireland
- The Sack of Baltimore — short account from the Baltimore Web site
- The Sack of Baltimore — the text of Davis's poem
- The Stolen Village: Baltimore and the Barbary Pirates (at amazon.co.uk)
- Fineen the Rover, Hackett and the Algerian pirates
