These captives were then taken to Algiers and sold into slavery, a fate from which few of them would ever escape.Įkin’s book is an entertaining account of this traditionally obscure event. It was one of these raids which fell upon Baltimore, sacking the village and capturing over a hundred men, women, and children. While such raids were uncommon they were not unheard of, as Barbary pirates started ranging out into the Atlantic and raiding settlements along the coast. Yet as Des Ekin demonstrates in this absorbing book, it is an event that offers an interesting window into life in the early 17th century. Though the subject of considerable attention at the time, the raid on the Irish coastal village of Baltimore on Jis an event that has been long overlooked by most histories of the era. Shortlisted for the Argosy Irish Nonfiction Book of the Year Award
The Stolen Village is a fascinating tale of international piracy and culture clash nearly 400 years ago and is the first book to cover this relatively unknown and under-researched incident in Irish history. Des Ekin's exhaustive research illuminates the political intrigues that ensured the captives were left to their fate, and provides a vivid insight into the kind of life that would have awaited the slaves amid the souks and seraglios of old Algiers.
The Sack of Baltimore was the most devastating invasion ever mounted by Islamist forces on Ireland or England. The old city of Algiers, with its narrow streets, intense heat and lively trade, was a melting pot where the villagers would join slaves and freemen of many nationalities. The prisoners were destined for a variety of fates - some would live out their days chained to the oars as galley slaves, while others would spend long years in the scented seclusion of the harem or within the walls of the Sultan's palace. They captured almost all the villagers and bore them away to a life of slavery in North Africa. In June 1631 pirates from Algiers and armed troops of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, led by the notorious pirate captain Morat Rais, stormed ashore at the little harbour village of Baltimore in West Cork.
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