[1] During May and June 1593, Maguire and Brian Oge O'Rourke of West Breifne raided lands held by the English Lord President of Connaught, Richard Bingham.

Negotiations produced little results, and Sir Henry Bagenal was commissioned to lead a force into Fermanagh and bring Maguire to heel.

On his march into Fermanagh, Bagenal attacked the lands of Maguire's ally, Brian MacHugh Og MacMahon in County Monaghan.

[2] Hugh O'Neill, lord of Tyrone, met Bagenal near Enniskillen Castle on 26 September with 200 horsemen and 600 foot soldiers – half the number of promised infantry.

Maguire held Enniskillen Castle and blocked the ford across the Erne at Lisgoole Abbey with troops holding strong fortifications.

Therefore, unable to cross the Erne, Bagenal and O'Neill marched north in separate columns on 7 October, meeting at Termon Magrath two days later.

[6] The Crown army was split into two battalia of infantry while sleeves of loose shot armed with muskets were sent to positions on the left and right of the ford.

[10] Yet it later emerged that Maguire's main force of modern pike and shot, which had raided Connacht earlier in the year and blocked Bagenal at Lisgoole Abbey, was unscathed.