Cromwellian conquest of Ireland

Oliver Cromwell landed in Ireland with his New Model Army on behalf of the English Parliament in 1649. Since the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Ireland had been mainly under the control of the Irish Confederate Catholics, who in 1649, signed an alliance with the English Royalist party, which had been defeated in the English Civil War. Cromwell defeated the Confederate and Royalist coalition in Ireland and occupied the country - bringing to an end the Irish Confederate Wars. He passed a very harsh series of Penal laws against Catholics and confiscated almost all of their land. The Parliamentarian re-conquest of Ireland was extremely brutal, and it is alleged that many of Cromwell's actions during the re-conquest would today be called war crimes and genocide. Cromwell is still a hated figure in Ireland. However, a recent book claims that many of the actions taken by Cromwell were within the then accepted rules of war, or were exaggerated or distorted by later propagandists{{fn|1}}. Debate over his impact in Ireland is lively{{fn|2}}.

The Siege of Drogheda

Upon landing, Cromwell proceeded to take the other port cities on Ireland?s east coast, in order to secure an efficient supply of reinforcements and logistics from England. The first town to fall was Drogheda, about 50km north of Dublin. Drogheda was garrisoned by a regiment of 3000 English Royalist soldiers, commanded by Arthur Aston. When Cromwell?s men took the town by storm, the entire garrison and some civilians were massacred on Cromwell?s orders. Arthur Aston was famously beaten to death by the Roundheads with his own wooden leg. The sack of Drogheda was received with horror in Ireland, and is remembered even today as an example of Cromwell?s extreme cruelty. However, it had recently been argued (for example by Tom Reilly in Cromwell, an Honourable Enemy, Dingle 1999) that what happened at Drogheda was not unusually severe by the standards of seventeenth century siege warfare. See also: siege of Drogheda This view contradicts what has been established by a large number of modern professional historians such as Michael Burke, Peter Gaunt, John Morrill, Antonia Fraser and others. (see History Ireland)

Related Topics:
Cromwell - Ireland - Logistics - England - Drogheda - Royalist - Roundhead - Siege warfare - Siege of Drogheda

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Having taken Drogheda, Cromwell sent 5000 men north under Robert Venables to take Ulster from the remnants of a Scottish Covenanter army that had landed there in 1642. The Parliamentarians were joined by an army of British settlers based around Derry, commanded by Charles Coote.

Related Topics:
Ulster - Covenanter - Derry

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