Cromwell's Siege of Drogheda: Massacre and Memory

The History of Ireland: Rebellion, Empire, and Independence — Fexingo History · Aug 28, 2026 · 13m · transcript

In 1649, Oliver Cromwell landed in Ireland with a New Model Army and a mission to crush the Royalist alliance. His first major action was the siege of Drogheda, a walled town on the Boyne. Within days, the town fell, and hundreds of soldiers and civilians were killed in a frenzy that still stirs debate. Was it a calculated act of terror, a brutal military necessity, or something else? This episode digs into the evidence: the letters Cromwell wrote, the contested death tolls, the accounts of survivors like Sir Arthur Aston, and the long shadow the massacre cast over Irish memory. We also…