One of the many myths surrounding the controversial Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is one in which he walked out of a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook in 1997, because Cook had a painting of Oliver Cromwell hanging prominently on his office wall. It hard to say whether this is actually true, but it neatly illustrates the differing views on Cromwell in both countries: in in the UK, he is generally seen as a great English leader, while the Irish view him as a bloodthirsty tyrant, guilty of the slaughter of thousands of innocent people.
This episode was written by Bernard Kelly
Bernard is a Postdoctoral research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, whose PhD degree examined Irish veterans of the British forces. His first book Returning Home: Irish ex-servicemen after the Second World War is published by Irish Academic Press.
Cromwell in Ireland, 1649 – 1650
