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Oliver Cromwell and the Down Survey of Ireland
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader and infamously, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Cromwell was born into the gentry of England in 1599. His early life didn’t court such notoriety. It wasn’t until the 1640s when Cromwell changed religion and became more outspoken of those who opposed his views that he became known.
Cromwell is renowned for the role he played in the English campaign in Ireland in 1649-53. Cromwell’s forces defeated the confederate and royalist coalition bringing to an end the Irish Confederate Wars. The 17 century was a time of much unrest in Ireland.
The Nine Years War had had a lasting effect on Ireland, with the Irish natives losing much of their land to the protestant English. This feeling of unrest culminated in the 1641 Rebellion, which took place in Ulster and killed thousands. This event sparked a civil war in Ireland and also ignited the civil wars in England and Scotland. The ‘Eleven Years War’ ensued with the Irish Catholics siding with King Charles I against his opponents in England and Scotland. The Irish Catholics briefly gained the majority control in Ireland, running their own state from 1642-49, The Confederate Catholic Association.
Campaign In Ireland
The Down Survey of Ireland
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