British Army The Battle of Ballinamuck (8 September 1798) marked the defeat of the main force of the French incursion during the 1798 Rebellion in Ireland.

[citation needed] Humbert crossed the River Shannon at Ballintra Bridge on 7 September, destroying it behind them, and continued to Drumshanbo where they spent the night - halfway between his landing-point and Dublin.

With Cornwallis' huge force blocking the road to Dublin, facing constant harassment of his rearguard and the pending arrival of General Lake's command, Humbert decided to make a stand the next day at the townland of Ballinamuck on the Longford/Leitrim county border.

There was a brief struggle when French lines were breached which only ceased when Humbert signalled his intention to surrender and his officers ordered their men to lay down their muskets.

[1] Government forces subsequently slowly spread out into the rebel-held "Irish Republic", engaging in numerous skirmishes with rebel holdouts.

Numerous oral traditions were later collected about the battle, principally in the 1930's by historian Richard Hayes and the Irish Folklore Commission.