Sack of Baltimore

The sack of Baltimore took place on 20 June 1631, when the village of Baltimore in West Cork, Ireland, was attacked by pirates from the Barbary Coast of North Africa – the raiders included 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 and converted to Islam. Murad's force was led to the village by a man called Hackett – the captain of a fishing boat that was captured earlier – in exchange for his freedom. Hackett was subsequently hanged from the clifftop outside the village for conspiracy.