At the start of the 17th century Ireland was beginning to prosper. Feuds between the Norman and Gaelic populations were rapidly dying out. The old english lords could speak Irish and intermarraige was common. They were united by their catholicism and the common threat of the new protestant planters who had settled in Ireland under James I. Religious intolerance soon followed and rebellion was again loosed upon the land.
When in 1649 the English parliament executed the King and ordered Cromwell to Ireland, the Irish united against him and so began a terrible violent period in Irish history culminating in what was known as Cromwells Settlement. This book traces the journey of Cromwell through Ireland and the violence and death he leaves in his wake.
