It was fought between the crown forces of Queen Elizabeth I and the Gaelic clan of MacDonnell, with military support from Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and resulted in a defeat for the English.

The MacDonnells adopted a wait-and-see policy, without committing themselves fully to the crown in its campaign to break the rebellion, though they facilitated Tyrone's arms shipments out of Scotland, primarily Glasgow.

[1] In 1597, the recently appointed English governor of Carrickfergus Castle, John Chichester, had enjoyed successes against the strongholds of the Clandeboye O'Neills, and was negotiating with Sorley Boy's nephew, James MacSorley MacDonnell, over a series of raids and counter-raids in the locality.

Unknown to Chichester, James MacSorley had met with Tyrone on 1 November, where the earl offered his daughter's hand in marriage, and more importantly reinforced the Scots with 500 Irish shot armed with calivers.

The crown forces were dismayed, and although reinforcements - including the sick, so depleted was the garrison - sallied out from the castle and prevented a massacre, the death toll on the English side reached 180, with 30-40 wounded.

There was some irony in the Scots' victory, because MacDonnell's father, Sorley Boy, had sacked the town over twenty years before in revenge for the English massacre of clan dependents on Rathlin Island.