Ireland

The "Great Rebellion" it dragged on for eleven years and caused wholesale death and destruction throughout the whole island. Finally, Oliver Cromwell came to Ireland to put this rebellion down "once and for all." He proceeded by marching on every Irish city, slaughtering any and all that resisted him. Typical was his march on Drogheda. When his army entered the town, in addition to the defending soldiers, there were also 3000 unarmed civilians there. Cromwell's soldiers began killing everyone in sight, and when the slaughter was over, only thirty Irish people remained.

When the war ended, one third of the Irish Catholic population had been killed and additional thousands had been transported to the West Indies to work as slaves. Cromwell's soldiers were granted generous grants of land as a result of their "excellent effort." To make room for his soldiers, Cromwell issued his famous order, "to hell or Connaught"--either move to the barren lands of western Ireland or be killed. Land owned by non-Irish had increased to 75%. In spite of all this, it was said, "an Irish nation still existed--separate, numerous, and hostile."

Because of the savagery with which this rebellion had been put down, the English authorities believed that Irish rebellions were a thing of the past. They soon found out that they were wrong.