Oliver Cromwell; Great Englishman who Enslaved the Irish

One man who has intrugued me is Oliver Cromwell. Frankly I admire him,here is a man with a single minded devotion to his task ; a man who kept the interest of England always in mind. But most Irish catholics will not agree as he was like a scourge for them.

The problem of Ireland commenced in 1641 with the peasent revolt. It was a brutal uprising by the Catholics who killed over 4000 Protestants, while another 12000 English settlers died after they were driven from their lands. The hour finds the man and Oliver invaded Ireland with his free army. By 1652 he had taken over Ireland. Cromwell passed some draconian laws. He expelled all Catholic land owners and those who wanted to stay could stay on as serfs or tenents of the English land owners. Those who opposed Cromwell were summarily
executed.

In addition he settled his free army on lands in Ireland. These were a great source of strength to the English. Cromwell died but his policies were kept afloat as the Irish became slaves of the English. Thousands were taken as slaves to the new world. T

The Irish girls as slaves were much prized. However compared to the African slaves the Irish died earlier in the heat, but African slaves cost money while Irish slaves were free. In a way Cromwellion politics led ultimately to the Irish breaking free fro England. I wonder whether Cromwell was a hero or a villain.