A guarding party of rebels massacred up to 200[1] noncombatant men, women and children, most of whom were Protestant (there were also about 20 Catholics), who were held prisoner in a barn which was then set alight.

[4] A farm and out-buildings in the townland of Scullabogue (also spelt Scullaboge; Irish: Scolbóg) were used as a staging post for rebel forces before the 1798 Battle of New Ross.

At dawn on 5 June, the bulk of the rebel army attacked the nearby town of New Ross leaving behind a small number of guards in charge of the captives.

[5] Thomas Cloney, a rebel commander with the rank of General, present at the Battle of New Ross, reported: The wretches who burned Scullabogue Barn did not at least profane the sacred name of justice by alleging that they were offering her a propitiatory sacrifice.

The prisoners' guards twice prevented the gathering mob from harming them but eventually gave in to the crowd by allowing the executions by musket-shot of over a dozen particularly hated individuals.