Battle of Piltown

In summer 1462, the Earl of Desmond and the Earl of Ormond clashed near Piltown, County Kilkenny, deciding the fate of Lancastrian hopes in Ireland. Desmond's Yorkist forces broke Ormond's army, killing more than a thousand men and driving the Butlers into exile. This single battle secured FitzGerald dominance for another half-century, leaving a scarred landscape where two ancient families had bled for distant English crowns.