The Stolen Village

In June 1631, pirates from Algiers and armed troops of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, stormed ashore at the little harbour village of Baltimore in West Cork. They captured almost all the villagers and bore them away to a life of slavery in North Africa. Some prisoners were destined to live out their days as galley slaves, while others would spend long years in the seclusion of the harem or within the walls of the Sultan's palace. Only two of them ever saw Ireland again. Here is the remarkable tale of a harrowing historical event known as 'The Sack of Baltimore'.