Sorry meant to write my response below the quote but someone disconnected the wi-fi in the middle. But three points :-
1.Lived in Ireland for 49 years and only ever encountered any mention of Lord Leonard Grey in a history module at University. Cromwell was a tough 17th century general but no worse than his Continental contemporaries like Wallenstein, Turenne, Tilly or Gustavus Vasa. Lord Leonard Grey was actually genocidal of the "Let none remain alive" school.
2. Cromwell was not a fanatic by the standards of his era and did not control the Parliament in the manner of a Stalin. Praisegod Barebones was the choice of the electorate of his day not the creature of Cromwell. You might as well blame Truman or Eisenhower for Joe McCarthy.
3. Cromwell dispossessed the Catholic landowners yes but he wasn't incredibly harsh. Incredibly harsh would have been executing them and seizing their land. "Hell or Connaught " wasn't much of a choice I grant you but it was more choice than normally available during the religious wars. And I have yet to become aware of anyone who preferred to go to Hell rather than Connaught!
1.Lived in Ireland for 49 years and only ever encountered any mention of Lord Leonard Grey in a history module at University. Cromwell was a tough 17th century general but no worse than his Continental contemporaries like Wallenstein, Turenne, Tilly or Gustavus Vasa. Lord Leonard Grey was actually genocidal of the "Let none remain alive" school.
2. Cromwell was not a fanatic by the standards of his era and did not control the Parliament in the manner of a Stalin. Praisegod Barebones was the choice of the electorate of his day not the creature of Cromwell. You might as well blame Truman or Eisenhower for Joe McCarthy.
3. Cromwell dispossessed the Catholic landowners yes but he wasn't incredibly harsh. Incredibly harsh would have been executing them and seizing their land. "Hell or Connaught " wasn't much of a choice I grant you but it was more choice than normally available during the religious wars. And I have yet to become aware of anyone who preferred to go to Hell rather than Connaught!