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What happened when Cromwell’s army captured Drogheda and Wexford?

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Painting of the Battle of Naseby shows cavalry and infantry clashing, with soldiers on horseback leading a charge and fallen fighters on the ground amid the chaos of battle. — English Civil Wars *Battle of Naseby*, by an unknown artist. The victory of the Parliamentarian New Model Army, under Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell, over the Royalist army, commanded by Prince Rupert, at the Battle of Naseby (June 14, 1645) marked the decisive turning point in the English Civil War.

When Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army captured the fortified towns of Drogheda and Wexford in 1649, the resulting actions were characterized by extreme violence and massacres of both soldiers and civilians.12

At Drogheda, following a successful breach of the walls on September 11, Cromwell’s troops engaged in an appalling slaughter. Priests and monks were killed on sight, and a Catholic church sheltering soldiers and civilians was set on fire. Many defenders were executed after surrendering, and those who survived were sent into indentured servitude in Barbados.1

The savagery witnessed at Drogheda was replicated at Wexford the following month. These events were part of a brutal nine-month campaign intended to crush Irish Royalist resistance against the new English republic. The violence during these sieges left a lasting legacy, ensuring that Cromwell remained a figure of intense hatred among Irish Catholics.12