Rathlin Island Massacre

Rathlin Island in County Antrim became a massacre site on 26 July 1575 when English Crown forces under Francis Drake and John Norreys killed more than 600 people, including 200 surrendered defenders and over 400 civilians hiding in sea caves. The MacDonnells of Antrim had used the island’s rocky shores and western winds as a sanctuary, but Norreys hunted the old, sick, women and children through those caves while Sorley Boy MacDonnell watched helplessly from the mainland. Essex later boasted that MacDonnell was like to run mad from sorrow, turning the island’s natural protection into the very trap that destroyed his family.