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}}.

Wexford, Waterford and Duncannon

The New Model Army then marched south to secure the ports of Wexford, Waterford and Duncannon. Wexford was the scene of another famous atrocity, when Cromwell?s men broke into the town during negotiations and killed around 2000 of its inhabitants. On this occasion Cromwell did not order the killings, but his officers were guilty of in-discipline, at the least, for not stopping an attack on a town which was in the process of surrendering. At worst, it has been suggested that Cromwell turned a blind eye to the massacre because he did not want to let the garrison of Wexford be evacuated to fight him again. Arguably, Cromwell's sack of Wexford was ultimately counter-productive. Firstly, the destruction of the town meant that the Parliamentarians could not use its port as a base for supplying their forces in Ireland. Secondly, because of the example set at Drogheda and Wexford, the New Model Army had a far more difficult time in taking fortified towns after this point - as garrisons feared being killed even if they surrendered. Cromwell was unable to take Waterford or Duncannon and the New Model Army had to retire to winter quarters, where many of its men died of disease ? especially typhoid and dysentery. (The port towns of Waterford and Duncannon eventually surrendered after prolonged sieges in 1651).

Related Topics:
New Model Army - Wexford - Waterford - Duncannon - Cromwell - Drogheda - Typhoid - Dysentery

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