Battle of Affane The Battle of Affane was fought in county Waterford , in south - eastern Ireland , in 1565 , between the forces of the Fitzgerald Earl of Desmond and the Butler Earl of Ormond . The battle ended in the rout of the Desmond ( or Geraldine ) forces . It was one of the last private battles fought in Britain or Ireland . Causes – a private war . The province of Munster had been dominated by the Old English Fitzgeralds of Desmond and the Butlers of Ormonde since the 13th century . The Fitzgerald territory was located in the south and south - west of Ireland , across modern counties – Cork , Kerry and Tipperary . The Ormonde territory was centred on the city of Kilkenny and concentrated in counties Kilkenny , Waterford and Tipperary . In the absence of any strong central government , the rival dynasties were locked in a cycle of violent competition , which resulted in constant raids as each side tried to consolidate and expand its territory at the expense of the other . In the 1560s , this feud exploded into all - out war . In the preceding years the widowed Countess of Ormonde , mother of Sir Thomas Butler , 10th Earl of Ormonde , had married Gerald Fitzgerald , 15th Earl of Desmond , with a view to reconciliation between the two houses . In 1560 her intervention secured a peaceful outcome to a stand - off at Bohermore ( known as , " the battle that never was " ) . However , her death in 1564 unleashed ill feeling , and raiding was immediately resumed on both sides . As the dispute ebbed and flowed , Sir Maurice Fitzgerald – a Desmond dependant resident in the borderland between the territories – declared his intention to accept the protection of his first cousin , Ormonde . To coerce his dependant , Desmond mustered the Geraldine forces in January 1565 , marching east across Munster and into the territory of the Decies in Waterford . Ormonde mobilised his men to intercept the Geraldines at Affane , a ford over the Finisk tributary of the Blackwater River , in the foothills of the Knockmealdown Mountains near Lismore . The battle . Desmond ' s forces were composed of his Fitzgerald kinsmen , allied Gaelic Irish clans such as the O ' Connor s and O ' Brien s , and one disaffected dependant of Ormonde ' s , Sir Piers Butler of Cahir . Ormonde ' s troops were provided by the Butler lords and allied Gaelic and Old English levies . Desmond left Lismore at first light with 80 – 100 horse , 300 – 400 - foot , as well as hundreds of followers , in the company of the MacCarthys , O ' Sullivan s , MacSheehy s and O ' Connor s . He marched to Bewley at the tidal high point of the Finisk , where he demanded service of Fitzgerald in the formal way , according to the customary military exactions of coyne and livery . Fitzgerald offered arbitration , but Desmond insisted on the sole decision of his brehon : no agreement was reached . Desmond pitched camp , ordered the slaughter of 60 cattle , and sent some horseboys out to fire a few houses before dispatching the rest to Dungarvan for wine . Three houses were set on fire , and Ormonde came down the mountain with the O ' Kennedy s , Gillapatrick s and Burkes . Desmond was advised by a local man to attack immediately , on the false information that Ormonde himself was absent ; Lord Power , however , urged him to retreat to his house at Curraghmore and consider his position . Desmond ' s assessment was that the opposing forces were weak and could be taken with ease , and so he chose to attack . The Geraldines set off for Dromana in the parish of Affane , the chief seat of the Fitzgeralds of the Decies , taking up reinforcements at Lismore on the way . At this point Ormonde had progressed to the ford of Affane , a short distance below Lismore Castle , where his forces , bearing a red flag , were passed by Desmond ' s foot soldiers at the crossroads . Desmond ' s men hoisted their banner , and matters came to a head . Ormonde was spotted by Desmond , who immediately spurred his horse onward , causing a desultory exchange of gunfire . Ormonde fell into defensive formation , and his brother , Sir Edmund Butler of Cloughgrenan , hit Desmond in the right hip with a pistol - shot , cracking his thigh - bone and throwing him from his mount . With their leader fallen , the Geraldine troops were routed and the Butlers pursued them to the riverbank . About 300 Geraldines were killed , with many drowning as they were intercepted by armed boats in crossing the river . As the captive Desmond was being carried shoulder - high from the field , an Ormonde commander rode up and jubilantly inquired , " Where is now the great Lord Desmond ? " Whereupon Desmond is said to have retorted , " Where but in his proper place , on the necks of the Butlers . " Desmond was taken in captivity to Clonmel and then to Waterford city , where the Lord Justice Nicholas Arnold took custody of him after a legal wrangle with Ormonde . Consequences . Elizabeth I of England was furious that two noble houses had fought a private battle , defying Royal authority in the Kingdom of Ireland . The fact that both sides had displayed their banners in the battle was a particular affront to her – as it was a symbolic rejection of the monopoly of the state on making war . Both Earls were summoned to London to explain their actions . However , the treatment of the dynasties was not even - handed : the Earl of Ormonde , a cousin of the Queen ' s and a court favourite , managed to convince Elizabeth that it was the Geraldines who were at fault . As a result , both Desmond ( who had been brought before the privy council on a litter ) and his brothers , John and James , were arrested and detained in the Tower of London ; it was seven years before the earl returned to Munster with his wife , Eleanor . This action contributed significantly to unrest in the province of Munster and , ultimately , to the first of the Desmond Rebellions in 1569 .