In March, 1649, Oliver Cromwell was appointed by the English Parliament Commander-General for Ireland, and in July he left London in State to take up his office. He landed in Ireland in August, and marched at once to Dublin. He desired to put down as quickly as possible all resistance, and to proceed with the scheme of Confiscation and Plantation which tho Parliament had already outlined. He had no scruple as to methods, no pity or sympathy for the Irish people. His forces ... Read More

Above : Picture Of Poverty At The Time It has already been mentioned that during the earlier part of the nineteenth century a large proportion of the Irish people lived habitually on the verge of destitution. The food of about one-third of the population was almost exclusively potatoes, with which the better-off drank milk. As the people thus depended for their subsistence on one crop alone it may well be conceived with what dismay the appearance of a strange disease amongst the potatoes ... Read More