Like all Jihads or Holy Wars no one could say when it started and similarly no one could say when it ended. Although wars based on religion never end, they develop a truce or ceasefire at best, as is the case with Northern Ireland. When Oliver Cromwell was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in the spring of 1649 he was tasked by Parliament to assemble a formidable force of 12,000 veterans to bring the island under British rule. During the following months, Cromwell’s troops, under his orders, gave no quarter to the Catholic people who were slaughtered in cold blood. It is fair to say that the legacy of Cromwell’s butchery lives on to this day in Irish folklore, making his name one of the most hated in Irish history. Following Cromwell’s introduction of the barbaric ways of the English, the most significant battle in Irish history was that which cemented the sectarianism which was already developing. The battle of the Boyne took place on July 1st 1690 and it was fought by two claimants for the English throne: James the Second, who was a Catholic, and William of Orange, a Protestant.
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