Cromwell In Ireland Flashcards
Why did Cromwell come to Ireland?
By 1649 Oliver Cromwell, leader by the parliamentary forces, had won the civil war in England against King Charles 1. The king had been executed and England had become a republic-state without a king. Cromwell declared himself lord protector to this new public from 1653 to 1658. He had many problems to deal with but the most immediate threat seemed to lie to catholic Ireland, parts of which were still controlled by royalist troops. When some of the Irish leaders gave support to the remains of the royalist army in Ireland, Cromwell decided to take his army into Ireland against them.
Crush Irish rebels
Take land for payment for his soldiers wages
Defeat the supporters of the king who controlled Drogheda
Reward those who had supported parliament
What happened in Drogheda?
Soon after his arrival, Cromwell marched with 10,000 troops to lay siege to the town of Drogheda. The royalist garrison at Drogheda was commanded by an English officer, sir author Aston, and his troops consisted of a mixture of English royalists and old Irish soldiers. The town and its defenders and not taken part in the 1641 rebellion. The defenders of the town did not give up easily and fought long and hard against Cromwell’s forces, refusing to surrender. Cromwell’s soldiers eventually bombarded and walls and entered the town, plundering and killing the occupants.
How did he change England?
Cromwell ordered his soldiers to kill all the rebel soldiers in Drogheda. Hundreds of them hid in the church but Cromwell ordered it to be set alight and many were burnt alive.
Catholics in Ireland would have viewed Cromwell as a horrible man and they would have been very annoyed because landowners had been removed and priests were targeted in an effort to wipe out Catholicism.
An act of settlement was to repay the soldiers and those landowners who had supported parliament during the war most landowners thought Ireland were affected.
