R1917th

Spawned from Cromwell’s intolerance of Catholicism and resulting in brutal bloodshed, the Rebellion in Drogheda, Ireland in 1649 is an example of civil conflict at its nastiest and instilled a lasting hatred of England among Irish. Oliver Cromwell, a militant leader of Parliament, had become dictator after the beheading of Charles I and the establishment of a commonwealth in England, and tried to recreate the government with limited freedoms. Becoming increasingly unstable after his failed attempts to create a constitution, Cromwell saw Irish Catholicism as a form of insurrection against the Church of England that needed to be hastily purged.

 McKay, John P. __A History of Western Society__. 7th ed. New York City: Houghton Mifflin, 2003.