Cromwellian conquest of Ireland

Part of the Eleven Years' War and
Wars of the Three Kingdoms

Oliver Cromwell, who landed in Ireland in 1649 to re-conquer the country on behalf of the English Parliament. He left in 1650, having taken eastern and southern Ireland, passing his command to Henry Ireton

Date

15 August 1649 – 27 April 1653

Location

Ireland

Result

Decisive English Parliamentarian victory

English Parliamentarian conquest of Ireland
End of the Confederation of Kilkenny
Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652

Belligerents

Irish Catholic Confederation

English Royalists

English Parliamentarian

New Model Army

Protestant colonists

Commanders and leaders

James Butler, Marquess of Ormonde (Aug. 1649 – Dec. 1650)

Ulick Burke, Earl of Clanricarde (Dec. 1650 – Apr. 1653)

Oliver Cromwell (Aug. 1649 – May 1650)

Henry Ireton (May 1650 – Nov. 1651)

Charles Fleetwood (Nov. 1651 – Apr. 1653)

Strength

Up to 60,000 incl. guerrilla fighters, but only around 20,000 at any one time

~30,000 New Model Army troops,
~10,000 troops raised in Ireland or based there before campaign

Casualties and losses

Unknown;
15,000–20,000 battlefield casualties,
over 200,000 civilian casualties (from war-related famine or disease)
~50,000 deported as indentured labourers

8,000 New Model Army soldiers killed,
~7,000 locally raised soldiers killed

Decisive English Parliamentarian victory

Irish Catholic Confederation

English Parliamentarian

The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–53) refers to the conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland with his New Model Army on behalf of England's Rump Parliament in August 1649.

Following the Irish Rebellion of 1641, most of Ireland came under the control of the Irish Catholic Confederation. In early 1649, the Confederates allied with the English Royalists, who had been defeated by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War. By May 1652, Cromwell's Parliamentarian army had defeated the Confederate and Royalist coalition in Ireland and occupied the country—bringing to an end the Irish Confederate Wars (or Eleven Years' War). However, guerrilla warfare continued for a further year. Cromwell passed a series of Penal Laws against Roman Catholics (the vast majority of the population) and confiscated large amounts of their land.

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