The Battle of Lixnaw was fought between the Irish Confederate guerrilla Seamus Hennessey's irregular force and a company of Anglo-Irish Parliamentarians in County Kerry on 17 September 1642.
After a victory over Anglo-Irish brigands in County Roscommon on 13 September 1642, Hennessey traveled to County Wexford and County Cork, where he was joined by several new recruits longing for adventure and the championing of Catholicism. Confident that he could best a Parliamentarian force in battle, Hennessey led his irregulars into the Protestant-controlled parts of Desmond, where he intended to initiate a guerrilla war.
Near Banteer, Hennessey and his party chanced upon a Parliamentarian patrol led by Philip Pray. Hennessey and his irregulars pursued the Parliamentarians into the countryside of County Kerry, catching up to them at Lixnaw. There, he led his poorly-armed Irish recruits into battle, overwhelming and killing the 6 Parliamentarian dragoons, 2 Ironsides, 4 musketeers, and 2 pikemen with only 3 losses of his own. The Confederates acquired a quantity of military uniforms and armaments from the slain Protestants, which Hennessey could sell once he reached the nearest big-city marketplace.
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