The Long and the Short of It
Was Oliver Cromwell Really All That Bad?
Season 2 Episode 2 of 4
Tim McGarry and David Hume revisit 1649 to look at Oliver Cromwell's conquest of Ireland. Cromwell was an ardent Puritan and anti-Catholic whose forces killed many Catholic soldiers and civilians in massacres at Drogheda and Wexford. He confiscated land from Catholics and gave it to English and Scottish settlers and also banned Catholics from voting or serving in Parliament. He is vilified by Irish nationalists because of the brutality of his actions, but Tim and David contemplate whether he was just a man of his time. Were his actions simply typical of the way wars were fought in the 17th Century?
The Long and the Short of It airs on BBC One Northern Ireland HD at 7:30 PM, Friday 4 April. (Subtitles, new.)
Topics
News ➝ Current Affairs
Documentary
Tim McGarry
Presenter
David Hume
Presenter
Damon Quinn
Producer
Michael McDowell
Director