dwelling-house at Kilreiny, and had committed various robberies in the course of the preceding night,

he went to Kinnegad to solicit a reinforcement and sent an express to Edendery for a force to co-operate with him. The Kinnegad Yeomen Cavalry, under Lieutenant Houghton, and a small party of the Northumberland Fencibles immediately marched with Lieutenant Tyrrell to Clonard, and from thence being joined by his own Corps, he proceeded to Fox's hill, where the Rebels were posted to the amount of 600.—The attack was began by the Clonard Supplementaries, who displayed great steadiness upon this occasion; the Kinnegad Corps and the Northumberlands supported the attack with great zeal, and the Edenderry force consisting of a detatchment of the Limerick, Lieutenant Colonel Gough, the Coolestown Cavalry, Captain Wakely and the Canal Legion, Lieutenant Williams, having fallen upon the Rebels from the opposite side, they were routed with considerable slaughter. Their commander, one Casey, his brother and another Leader were killed in this action, and their bodies brought to Edenderry, where they were exposed for several days.

JUNCTION OF THE WEXFORD AND KILDARE REBELS.

It might have been hoped, that these successes would have established tranquility in this neighbourhood, and probably such effects would have followed the military exertions, were it not for the irruption of a large column of Wexford Rebels into Kildare, under the command of Colonel Perry who being immediately joined by Colonel Aylmer, commanding the Rebel Camp at Prosperous, was prevailed upon to abandon his intention of penetrating into the North, and to adopt a plan suggested by Aylmer, of attacking Clonard, pushing on from thence by Kilbeggan to the Shannon and surprising Athlone. In pursuance of this plan, the Rebel Forces amounting to 4000 men made a movement towards Clonard.

BATTLE OF CLONARD.

Lieutenant Tyrrell was totally unapprised of the intention, or motions of the enemy:—his guard were extremely vigilant during each night, but not apprehending any danger in the day

time they frequently dispersed through the village for the purpose of recreation and refreshment. This happened to be the case with many of his men upon Wednesday morning the 11th of July, on which day, about eleven o'Clock Mr. Richard Allen galloped into the Court, and brought intelligence that he was pursued by a piquet guard of the Rebels, whom he narrowly escaped as they were well mounted; and he was confident a considerable force was approaching. The alarm was instantly given—every exertion was made to collect the scattered men, and parties were stationed in the most advantageous positions. As the enemy were expected from the Dublin side, six of the Corps (including Mr. Allen and Thomas Tyrrell junr. the Lieutenant's son, and only fifteen years of age) took possession of an old Turret at the extremity of the garden; and which commanded the road. Such was the rapidity with which the Rebels advanced, that the firing actually commenced from this quarter upon their Cavalry before the entire guard could be collected, and the gate leading into the Court yard

was under such necessity closed to the exclusion of several, so that when Lieutenant Tyrrell came to ascertain his strength, he found he had only Twenty-seven men, including his own three sons, the eldest of whom was only seventeen years old! Such a critical situation required the coolness of a man innured to military danger, and all the exertion, firmness and skill of a veteran soldier. But although Lieutenant Tyrrell never had served in the Army, his own good sense supplied the want of experience, and his native courage furnished resources adequate to the magnitude of the occasion. 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 such a glorious cause. After sending a supply of ammunition to the advanced post at the Turret, and stationing other out-posts, he retired into the house 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 carabines for the marksmen at the windows.

The firing as we have observed commenced from the Turret at the extremity of the garden. About 300 of the Rebel Cavalry lead on by one Farrell formed their advanced guard, and approached the Turret in a smart trot, without appearing to apprehend any danger. The first shot was fired by young Mr. Tyrrell, which mortally wounded Farrell, and being followed by a general discharge from the rest among the body of the Cavalry, threw them into great confusion, in which state they fled out of the reach of the firing. The Infantry however coming up, many of them contrived to pass 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 without doing any material mischief.

The Infantry who had passed the Turret being joined by a party who came by a cross road (for it seems their plan was to surround the house by

advancing in different directions) they stationed a guard upon the Bridge to prevent any reinforcement arriving in that direction. About ten or a dozen of this guard were in a very few minutes shot by the marksmen from the windows, upon which the rest fled; not one of the Rebels ventured afterwards to appear upon the Bridge, so that the communication with the Western road was in a great measure preserved, the importance of which to the little garrison in Clonard will appear in the event of the day.

The enemy being thus defeated in their first onset in both points of attack, became exasperated to an extravagant pitch of fury, and determined upon 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 Yeomen stationed there were upon an upper floor—they had the precaution to drag up the ladder by which they ascended;—the Rebels endeavoured to climb upon each other, so as to reach the upper story, but they were killed as fast as they appeared; others

then ran their pikes through the cieling, and fired shots but without effect—the conflict was obstinate—twenty seven of the Rebels lay dead on the ground floor, when at length, a quantity of straw was brought and set on fire. The building was soon in flames; two of the yeomen, Mr. Michael Cusack and Mr. George Tyrrell, endeavouring to force their way through the smoke were immediately put to death; the rest of the party viz. Mr. Allen, young Mr. T. Tyrrell, and two others escaped by leaping from a window twenty foot high into an hay-yard, from whence under cover of a wall which divided it from the garden they escaped into the house.

Having succeeded so well by the effect of conflagration, the enemy set fire to the Toll house and some other cabbins on the left near the Bridge, for the purpose of embarassing and confusing the garrison; during this operation, they were seen throwing their dead into the flames, for the purpose, it was thought of evading discovery.