Cromwell’s troops are
shown killing women and
children in Drogheda in
September 1649Cromwell / God’s executioner
GETTY IMAGESmight have added something so important
to one of Cromwell’s letters without his
approval. Often, the most straightforward
explanation is correct. In his report,
Cromwell simply recorded that the
casualties included many civilians.
Few today would attempt to excuse
Cromwell’s actions except perhaps by
drawing attention to the bloody and
merciless nature of warfare in the early
modern period. The Thirty Years’ War,
which devastated large tracts of central
Europe at the same time, remains a byword
for wholesale death and destruction.
However, this no way explains or justifies
Cromwell’s shocking tactics.
Nonetheless, it is important to
acknowledge the extent to which
Cromwell’s views on Ireland mirrored
the vast majority of his contemporaries
in England, who applauded the crushing
of all resistance. As SR Gardiner explained
over a century ago, the fact that Cromwell
as an Englishman “should have been guilty
of the slaughters of Drogheda and Wexford
is a matter for regret, not for surprise”.
While historians continue to argue over
the details, a clear picture of the massacre
at Drogheda emerges from the eyewitness
accounts of Cromwell, Dungan and
Bernard, despite their very different
perspectives. Cromwell may well have
hoped to discourage further resistance, but
in fact his harsh tactics stiffened the resolve
of the Catholic Irish to fight on rather than
surrender to a man seemingly intent on
wholesale carnage. As a result, the war
lasted for another four years and created
a legacy that would poison Anglo-Irish
relations for centuries.CROMWELL’S CAMPAIGN IN IRELAND
30 January 1649
Execution of Charles I at Whitehall5 February 1649
Charles Stuart, Prince of Wales, is proclaimed king of England, Scotland
and Ireland by the Scottish covenanters. Days later, the Lord Lieutenant, James
Butler, Marquis of Ormond, follows suit in Ireland30 March 1649
Oliver Cromwell is approved as commander-in-chief of Ireland. His mission
is to reassert English dominance, crush the royalist threat, and avenge the
massacre of Protestant settlers in 16415 June 1649
Parliamentary army ordered to leave for Ireland and rendezvous at Milford
Haven. Cromwell spends the summer meticulously preparing for the invasion2 August 1649
Colonel Michael Jones, the governor of Dublin, one of the few parliamentary
enclaves in Ireland, defeats the Marquis of Ormond at Rathmines on the outskirts
of the city, scattering the royalist army and allowing Cromwell to land
unopposed at Ringsend two weeks later11 September 1649
Fall of Drogheda to Cromwell11 October 1649
Fall of Wexford results in another massacre of
soldiers and civilians, after parliamentary troops
scale the town walls while Cromwell is negotiating
surrender terms with the garrison commander,
Colonel David SinnottNovember –
early December 1649
The fort of Duncannon and city of Waterford
both successfully withstand parliamentary
sieges before Cromwell retires into winter quarters29 January 1650
Cromwell takes advantage of the unseasonably
clement weather to launch his spring campaign
early, catching the royalists unawares. He captures
Fethard, Cahir and Kilkenny in quick succession17 May 1650
In the last major engagement of his Irish campaign, at Clonmel Cromwell
suffers his biggest setback, with the New Model Army losing over 2,000 men26 May 1650
Cromwell departs for England from Youghal, leaving his son-in-law, Henry Ireton,
to complete the conquest of Ireland. The war drags on until mid-1653A letter from Oliver Cromwell to Thomas
Fairfax announcing the capture of
Wexford in IrelandMicheál Ó Siochrú, associate professor at Trinity
College Dublin, is author of God’s Executioner: Oliver
Cromwell and the Conquest of Ireland (Faber, 2009)