How many did cromwell kill in ireland

The town of Drogheda, some 25 miles north of Dublin, was one of the best-fortified towns in Ireland and a key strategic place on the main route from Dublin to Ulster. Jones had already laid siege in August, but were unable to capture the town. Anyone that can capture Drogheda can capture Hell itself. Having brought the army of the Parliament of England before this place, to reduce it to obedience, to the end that the effusion of blood may be prevented, I thought fit to summon you to deliver the same into my hands to their use.

If this be refused, you will have no cause to blame me. The fighting was intense but within hours the town was captured. A number of Irish troops who surrendered were executed, and Catholic priests and friars were bludgeoned to death on sight. Invited to surrender on the promise of having their lives spared, these men were nonetheless put to the sword that evening.

Aston was bludgeoned to death with his own wooden leg, which Parliamentarian soldiers believed to contain gold coins. Having initially refused to surrender, when they finally capitulated the officers from one tower were executed and the rest of the men deported to Barbados.

Under the conventions of 17th century warfare, any city stormed after refusing an earlier summons to surrender was offered no quarter. Any slaughter being intended to serve as an warning to other garrisons to surrender and so save future bloodshed. Oliver Cromwell is regarded by some as the ultimate villain in the Irish battle for independence against English rule.

Would you agree? What other figures spelled disaster for the Irish cause? Toggle navigation. Kilkenny farmer launches bid to have Ireland be taken over by British. Sections History Genealogy The Kennedys. How much did Jackie know about John F. Patrick's Day. Start Thanksgiving right with this pumpkin pancakes recipe. The top twenty books every Irish American should read.

Dine with an Irish view in - the best food experiences across Ireland. Co Kerry town named among Europe's most beautiful. Experts name top 21 places to visit in Ireland, beyond Cliffs of Moher. Christmas came early - Irish overjoyed with US reunion after travel ban. Top ten handcrafted Irish gifts for your loved ones this Christmas. Cromwell spent just nine months in Ireland: He captured the town of Drogheda in Ireland in September His troops massacred nearly 3, people, including 2, royalist soldiers, all the men in the town with weapons and probably also some civilians, prisoners and priests.

At the siege of Wexford in October , 2, Irish soldiers and perhaps 1, civilians were killed. Many historians accuse Cromwell of: slaughtering civilians as well as soldiers transporting many Irish Catholics to the West Indies to be enslaved giving Catholics' land to Protestant settlers and exiling the Irish to poor land in Connacht in the west of Ireland Other historians point out that: Cromwell ordered his men not to kill civilians and hanged those who did.

Cromwell refused to show mercy to the people of Drogheda, as the laws of war allowed at the time, because they had refused to surrender. He wrote later that he gave the order only to stop bloodshed in the long run.

There is little evidence that he ever sent anyone to the West Indies to be enslaved.