men eventually took the town from its 2,000 Irish defenders, but not before suffering heavy losses of around 2,000 soldiers or a quarter of their total force, their largest ever loss in a single action. At Charlemont, a small force of less than 200 defenders and townsfolk was able to hold off the New Model Army for two months through heavy fighting after arming the entire town's populace including women. In both engagements, the English, with overwhelming forces, surrounded the fortifications and created a breach in the defenses using cannon fire and then assaulted the breach. Both times, the town’s people and defenders set a trap within. At Clonmel, they built a coupure within the breach and lined it with artillery, muskets, and pikemen, thus creating a killing field just inside the walls. In both instances, Irish defenders were able to compel the superior English forces into granting surrender agreements with generous terms through heavy fighting and attrition to the besieging armies. Tactics and organisation Initially Kern or ceithern were members of individual tribes, but later, when the Vikings and English came to Ireland, they introduced new systems of billeting soldiers, the kern became billeted soldiers and mercenaries who served the highest bidder. Because Kern were equipped and trained as light skirmishers, they faced a severe disadvantage in pitched battle. In battle, the kern and lightly armed horsemen would charge the enemy line after intimidating them with shock tactics, war cries, horns and pipes. If the kern failed to break an enemy line after the charge, they were liable to flee. If the enemy formation did not break under the kern's charge, then heavily armed and armored Irish soldiers were moved forward and would advance from the rear lines and attack, these units were replaced in the late 13th century by the Gallowglass or Gallóglaigh, who at first were Norse-Gaelic mercenaries but by the 15th century most large túatha in Ireland had fostered and developed their own hereditary forces of Gallowglass. The primary function of Gaelic Heavy infantry was so lighter combatants such as Kern and Hobelars caught in thick fighting could strike, break free, re-group and tactically retreat behind the newly formed battle line if they needed to. By the time of the Tudor reconquest of Ireland, the forces under Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone had adopted Continental pike-and-shot tactics. Indeed, from the 16th century on, the Gaelic Irish