of the enemy fled to Corrigrua-hill; but they had not been there quite an hour, when they were driven from that station by the King's County militia, commanded by Colonel L'Estrange, which was at that time encamped at Ferns, about four miles from the hill. From Corrigrua the main body of the rebels retreated to a mountain called Slieve-buoy, near Carnew, where they formed a sort of camp; but here they met with such hardship, that numbers of them died from absolute want and fatigue, while many of them deserted the standard of rebellion, and availing themselves of the merciful proclamation, issued by the Lord Lieutenant and Privy Council, returned to their homes, to enjoy the blessings of that constitution which they had laboured to overturn.

Perry, despairing of doing any more execution in Wexford, as it was now so well defended by military, directed his route to the county of Kildare, and there joined a strong body of insurgents under the command of Michael Aylmer, colonel of the Kildare rebel army, hoping that he could thence penetrate into the North of Ireland, where he expected to be assisted by a numerous force. But Aylmer prevailed on him to abandon this intention, thinking it more advisable to attack Clonard, (a town on the confines of Kildare and Meath, and situated on the river Boyne) as there was but a small force to defend it; then march by Kilbeggan to the Shannon, and surprise Athlone; where, from its being the centre of the kingdom, he expected great reinforcements. This plan was accordingly adopted; and their united forces being now about four thousand, they

proceeded on the 11th of July, to put their designs into execution.

The military at Clonard, consisted only of a corps of yeomen cavalry, commanded by Lieutenant Tyrrell, a gentleman who had never served in the army, yet upon this occasion he evinced a degree of skill and bravery, which would have done honour to a veteran.

When he received intelligence of the enemy's approach he made every necessary preparation for their reception, which his very limited force would admit. He placed six of the yeomen, including his own son, (a lad only fifteen years of age) in an old turret, at the extremity of his garden, which commanded the road the rebels were to come. Such was the rapidity with which the latter advanced, that the firing actually commenced from this quarter upon them, before the entire guard could be collected, and the gate leading into the courtyard was under such necessity closed, to the exclusion of several, so that when the Lieutenant came to ascertain his strength, he found he had only twenty-seven men, including his three sons, the eldest of whom was but seventeen years old! Such a critical situation required all the coolness of a man inured to military dangers, and the skill and firmness of an experienced soldier. But although Lieutenant Tyrrell had not enjoyed these advantages, his good sense supplied the want of experience, and his native courage furnished resources adequate to the perilous emergency. He found his men as zealous as himself, determined to maintain their post, and to discharge their duty to their king and country, or fall in the glorious cause. After sending a supply of

ammunition to the advanced post at the turret, and stationing out-picquets, he retired into his dwellinghouse, with the main body; from which he selected the best marksmen, and placing them at particular windows, gave directions that they should not fire without having their object covered; he had the rest of the men secured behind the walls, and incessantly employed in loading musquets and carbines for the marksmen at the windows. The firing, as has been observed, commenced from the turret. About three hundred of the rebel cavalry, commanded by Captain Farrell, formed their advanced guard, and approached in a smart trot, without apprehending any danger. The first shot, which was fired by young Mr. Tyrrell, mortally wounded Farrell; the rest immediately discharged their pieces on the rebels, and threw them into such confusion, that they fled out of reach of the firing. The rebel infantry now coming up, passed the turret under cover of the wall; and numbers were posted behind a thick hedge, on the opposite side of the road, from which they kept up a smart fire against the turret, but to no effect.

After this division had passed the turret, they were joined by another which came by a cross-road, (for their plan was to surround the house, by advancing in different directions,) and they immediately stationed a guard upon the bridge to prevent any reinforcement arriving to the garrison in that direction. In a few minutes, ten or twelve of the guard were shot by their marksmen from the windows of the house, upon which the rest fled; and not one of the rebels appearing afterwards on the bridge, the communication with the west

ern road was, in a great measure, preserved-the importance of which, to the little garrison at Clonard, will appear in the sequel.

The enemy being thus defeated in their first onset, at both points of attack, became exasperated to extrava-gant fury, and determined on the most savage revenge. A large party contrived to penetrate into the garden by the rere, and some of them immediately rushed into the turret. The brave men stationed there were on the upper floor, and they had the precaution to drag up the ladder by which they ascended: the rebels endeavoured to climb up on each other, so as to reach the higher story, but they were killed as fast as they appeared; others ran pikes into the ceiling, and fired through it, *but without effect; and the conflict was so obstinate and bloody, that twenty-seven of the rebels lay dead on the ground floor. At length they brought a quantity of straw, and set the turret on fire, on which two of the yeomen endeavouring to force their way through the smoke and flames, were instantly put to death; the other four escaped, by leaping from a window twenty feet high, into a hay-yard, from whence, under cover of a wall which divided it from the garden, they fortunately reached the house.

Having succeeded so well by the effect of conflagration, the enemy now set fire to the toll-house, and some other cabins on the left near the bridge, for the purpose of embarrassing and confusing the garrison; and during this operation, they were seen throwing their dead into the flames for the purpose of evading discovery. The unequal conflict had now lasted nearly six hours; when

about five in the evening the approach of succour was descried from the house, and the hopes of the brave garrison were so elevated, that they fought with renovated vigour.

One of the yeomen who had been excluded by the sudden shutting of the gates in the morning, finding he could be of no use in defending the house, repaired to Kinnegad, and represented the alarming situation of his friends at Clonard; upon which Lieutenant Houghton, with fourteen of the Kinnegad infantry, and a serjeant, with eleven Northumberland fencibles, (this being all the force that could be spared) immediately marched to their succour. The pass by the bridge having been kept open in the manner before related, Lieutenant Tyrrell now sallied from the house, and soon effected a junction with this reinforcement. A few vollies completely cleared the roads, and having placed the Northumberland Fencibles and Kinnegad Infantry in such situations as most effectually to gall the enemy, in their retreat from the garden, the Lieutenant himself undertook the hazardous enterprise of dislodging them from thence.

At this time it is supposed there were four hundred rebels in the garden; a large body being posted on a mount planted with old fir trees, which afforded considerable protection, while many lay concealed behind a privet hedge, from whence they could see distinctly every person who entered the garden; though unperceived themselves. The brave Tyrrell, at the head of a few chosen men, now rushed into the garden, and was received by a general discharge from both bodies of the