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Cromwell was Framed: Ireland 1649 Kindle Edition

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 34 ratings

The publication of "Cromwell: An Honourable Enemy" fifteen years ago sparked off a storm of controversy with many historians publically deriding the divisive and groundbreaking study. Dissatisfied with the counter-explanations of these seventeenth-century experts concerning Cromwell’s complicity in war crimes in Ireland, amateur historian Tom Reilly now throws down the gauntlet to his critics and issues a challenge to professional historians everywhere. In this entirely fresh work Reilly tackles his academic detractors head-on with original and radical insights. Breaking the mould of the genre, for the first time ever, the author publishes the actual contemporary documents (usually the privileged preserve of historians) so the authentic primary source documents can be interpreted at first hand by the general reader, without prejudice. Among the author’s fresh discoveries is the revelation of the identity of two (unscrupulous) contemporary individuals who, after exhaustive research, seem to be personally responsible for creating the myth that Cromwell deliberately killed unarmed men, women and children at both Drogheda and Wexford, and that a 1649 London newspaper reported that Cromwell’s penis had been shot off at Drogheda. Whatever your view on Cromwell, this book is persuasive. Conventional wisdom is challenged. Lingering myths are finally dispelled.
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Amateur historian Tom Reilly has almost single-handedly taken on the might of academia with regard to Cromwell. He has appeared on national TV and radio in both the UK and Ireland in both documentaries and chat shows. He lives in County Louth, Ireland.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00LWFKT1M
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Chronos Books (August 29, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 29, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 36161 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 277 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 34 ratings

About the author

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Tom Reilly
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I come from Drogheda, Ireland. I was born there. I live there. I never left the parish. Drogheda will forever be associated with Oliver Cromwell. It is the biggest stain on his career, as he is alleged to have massacred thousands of its unarmed inhabitants; babies, toddlers, teenagers, pensioners, grannies, grandads, etc.

I have discovered that this is complete nonsense and my books (available here) have proved this. Essentialy he managed to exclude unarmed civilians from the military conflict, although a handful may have died as the result of collatoral damage in both Drogheda and Wexford. However, I constantly get push-back from people everywhere who often disagree vehemently, including historians who should know better. Opinions are not facts. My work has not yet been seriously challenged by any historian anywhere. In times yet to come, my books will stand out as the primary work that played a central role in the rehabilitation of Oliver Cromwell's murderous reputation in Ireland. I have made it my life's ambition to try to right this wrong, this historical miscarriage of justice, to overturn the erroneous verdict of history.

While no doubt an impact has been made, to date my non-fiction books have essentially failed to penetrate the wall of tradition and myth that promote Cromwell as a genocidal maniac. A book on the Irish school curriculum today entitled 'History in Focus' by Dan Sheedy and published as recently as 2018 by CJ Fallon, states that at Drogheda Cromwell massacred 3,500 'inhabitants' and at Wexford 4,000 'people'. This is complete drivel and as bad as it gets. Most recently I have written Cromwell's fictional biography to get the same message out there to a different audience. The battle is an uphill one.

The fact that I failed second level history (F) and yet I discovered a fundamental flaw in the teaching of Irish history says something inconvenient about Ireland today. It says that generations of Irish historians have perhaps purposely failed to accept, and, with few exceptions continue to fail to accept, that Oliver Cromwell was fundamentally a decent guy, a product of his time. In my opinion they did/do this so anti-English sentiment can flourish. Well, enough already. Haven't we seen enough acrimony between our two countries?! Cromwell was framed. Get over it. Can we please blame the right people for the atrocities they committed, and not an honourable man who is innocent of the cvharges against him, as I have now proved.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
34 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2024
The author states: "The monstrous ideology of compulsory land acquisition and the continual ruthless suppression of the Irish is beyond the scope of this narrative.” I admire the contrarian guts it took to address inaccuracies in the history of a local hometown. However, the context of "ruthless suppression of the Irish" must be central to that narrative. A leader of such effort is not "honourable". This history does not justify the use of that word.
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2014
While the book is to be recommended for Mr.Reilly's research and his inclusion of copies of original documents his anti-Catholic views, as promoted in a previous publication "Hollow be thy name" casts him as a not totally unbiased writer. He cites ancient superstition as the fault of the Church. Cromwell was anti-Catholic and anti-Papacy and it appears he has a fan in Mr.Reilly on many levels. Less personal opinion. The facts please, stick to the facts. Religion has caused enough problems.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2014
Bravo to Tom Reilly, for digging deeper than professional historiographers! In this book he provides evidence suggesting that monarchists then, and nationalists more recently, have been wrong in accusing republican Cromwell of a massacre of non-combatants at Drogheda in 1649. Three crucial words are involved; "...and many inhabitants." Did Cromwell's troops kill them, also? Reilly claims "No" on the basis that those three words are absent from other key documents and were probably inserted by monarchists.

This engagingly-written book includes details of Cromwell's destruction of Catholic churches, of his decision to storm a town rather than accept its surrender contingent upon allowing its inhabitants free exercise of their Catholicism, of his ethnic cleansing of Ireland east of the Shannon ("to Hell or Connacht"), and of his shipping of innocents to slavery in "the Tobacco Islands," etc.
Despite the genocidal policies of Britain's State Church in Ireland at the time, this book attacks one religion; Catholicism. On page 46 the author states; "It was the Catholic clergy that was the source of Ireland's woes and it was they with whom he (Cromwell) had major issues, not the people of Ireland." As to Cromwell's pious platitudes of coming to save the people of Ireland the author approvingly writes (also page 46) "...there is absolutely no good reason to believe he was lying."

So Author Reilly, having cast substantial doubt whether Cromwell oversaw the killing of Drogheda's noncombatant inhabitants, he extrapolates that reasonable exculpation into a strange claim that Cromwell is also innocent of all of his other crimes detailed in this book.

This book contrasts sharply with perhaps the only other hagiographic portrayal of Cromwell; "Life of Cromwell," by J.T. Headley (1848). Though Headley's admiration of Cromwell exceeds Reilly's, and he matches Reilly's expressed hatred of Catholicism, Headley defends Cromwell, not by attempting, like Reilly, to exonerate him, but for being no more murderous to the Irish than Britain's monarchs; as follows;

(Headley's page 302): "The truth is, Ireland has ever been regarded as so much common plunder by England. From the twelfth century till now, she has, with scarcely one protracted interval, suffered under the yoke of her haughty mistress; and it is not just to select out one period (Cromwellian) in order to stab republicanism. We have read history of modern civilization pretty thoroughly, and yet, we know of no examples of violated faith, broken treaties, corruption, bribery, violence, and oppression, compared to those which the history of the English and Irish connexion presents."

"If the Commonwealth had lasted, Ireland would have been a Protestant kingdom and her subsequent misfortunes avoided."

So, three stars for "Cromwell was Framed;" all three for the author's willingness to dig and to expose academic slackness.
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Top reviews from other countries

James Reid
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent reevaluation of one of the most important 17th century military leader and politician.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 7, 2022
The author has done his research, using various primary and secondary sources, to overturn what has been agenda driven historical " research " into the complex character of Oliver Cromwell.
Mr. C. Sheeran
4.0 out of 5 stars Definitely worth a look!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2018
Very interesting and well researched book. Not entirely convinced that there was no unneccessary civilian casualties at Drogheda but nice to see a different argument to the Irish set in stone dogma that they have been teaching their children for generations.
3 people found this helpful
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Sean
5.0 out of 5 stars A new slant on an old piece of history.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 23, 2015
What a great read! Too often we accept what we are taught and don't question the validity of the evidence. Tom I would like to thank you for your obvious hard work in researching this topic and as a fellow Drogheda man thank you for opening my eyes to the possibility that this man was not as bad as he was made out to be. A great thought provoking read.
5 people found this helpful
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Brian McDonald
5.0 out of 5 stars At last a well written rebuttal of hundreds of years ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 18, 2014
At last a well written rebuttal of hundreds of years of RC Church propaganda. I hope Tom Reily now looks at the behaviour of the Connaught Rangers at the sack of Badajos during the Peninsular War.( Irish soldiers under an Irish commander, raping, killing and pillaging their civilian co-religionist allies) Or perhaps our TD's will close their eyes and, put their fingers in their ears again.
3 people found this helpful
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viable
5.0 out of 5 stars Publishing large portions of historical documents was very useful.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 23, 2015
A very interesting insight into a controversial topic. I read his previous book and found this to be an improvement. Publishing large portions of historical documents was very useful.
2 people found this helpful
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