The sack of Baltimore: The Irish village of Baltimore is attacked by Algerian pirates.
Baltimore (, locally [-mo]; Irish: Dn na Sad, translated as the "Fort of the Jewels") is a village in western County Cork, Ireland. It is the main village in the parish of Rathmore and the Islands, the southernmost parish in Ireland. It is the main ferry port to Sherkin Island, Cape Clear Island and the eastern side of Roaring Water Bay (Loch Trasna) and Carbery's Hundred Isles.
Although the name Baltimore is an anglicisation of the Irish Baile an T Mhir meaning "town of the big house", the Irish-language name for Baltimore is that of the O'Driscoll castle, Dn na Sad or Dunashad ("fort of the jewels"). The restored castle is open to the public and overlooks the town.
In ancient times, Dunashad was considered a sanctuary for druids and the place name is associated with Bealtaine.
The Sack of Baltimore took place on 20 June 1631, when the village of Baltimore in West Cork, Ireland, was attacked by Algeria from the Barbary Coast of North Africa – Dutchmen, Algerians and Ottoman Turks. The attack was the largest by Barbary slave traders on Ireland.
The attack was led by a Dutch captain, Jan Janszoon van Haarlem, also known as Murad Reis the Younger, who was enslaved by Algerians but released when he renounced his faith. Murad's force was led to the village by a man called Hackett, the captain of a fishing boat he had captured earlier, in exchange for his freedom. Hackett was subsequently hanged from the clifftop outside the village for conspiracy.