A French force consisting of the ships Maréchal de Belle-Isle, Terpsichore and Blonde, carrying  six hundred French troops, lands in Carrickfergus, Ireland, under the command of the Privateer François Thurot, overwhelms the small garrison of the town, and captures its castle.

When word of the capture reaches Dublin, a small force of dragoons is dispatched by the Lord Lieutenant Duke of Bedford, who fears, incorrectly, that it is a feint to draw British forces to the north while a main French force is to attack Cork or Dublin.

Thurot holds the town for five days, menacing nearby Belfast and demanding supplies and a ransom.

In the face of the mobilization of large numbers of local militia under General Strode, and the appearance of a Royal Navy squadron off the coast, Thurot re-embarks his force and departs the town.

Thurot will be subsequently killed during the Battle of Bishops Court, but his feat in landing on enemy soil is widely hailed in France and he becomes a national hero, partly because his perceived daring is in sharp contrast to the incompetence shown by French naval officers at the recent Battle of Quiberon Bay.