It was part of a strategy by Duke of Ormonde, head of an alliance loyal to Charles II, to seize the remaining foothold of Ireland still under the control of the London Parliament.

[2] Michael Jones had controlled Dublin since 1647, which had functioned as the base of operations for his forces and their Irish Protestant allies.

Only the assistance of the Ulster Army of the Irish Confederates, led by the renegade Owen Roe O'Neill who had refused to agree to terms with Ormonde, prevented Derry from falling when it was besieged.

He accepted a proposal from Inchiquin that he lead a detachment north to take out some of the remaining Republican garrisons to prevent them from offering any assistance to Jones in Dublin.

[5] Ormonde moved to try and blockade Dublin Harbour, to prevent any further supplies or reinforcements from reaching Jones and his garrison.

On 25 July Ormonde shifted his forces, the bulk of which marched to Rathmines to the south of the city while Lord Dillon with 2,500 men remained poised to the north of Dublin.

On 15 August, Oliver Cromwell landed close to Dublin with a large force of New Model Army troops, launching a major campaign to subdue the royalist resistance in Ireland.

The events of 1649 were often revived in the following years as various figures sought to prove that they had been loyal to Charles during the siege operations when seeking to have lands restored by the Court of Claims.