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BE GOOD OR CROMWELL WILL GET YOU

Lauded as England’s first democrat and protector of the people, Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) was an Irish nightmare. Cromwell hated the Irish. To him, they were treacherous infidels, a dirty race of papists who had sided with Charles I during the Civil War. So when ‘God’s own Englishman’ landed his 12,000 troops at Dublin in August 1649, he immediately set out for Drogheda, a strategic fort town and bastion of royalist support.

When Cromwell arrived at the walls of Drogheda, he was met by 2300 men led by Sir Arthur Aston, who boasted that ‘he who could take Drogheda could take hell’. After Aston refused to surrender, Cromwell let fly with heavy artillery and after two days the walls were breached. Hell, it seems, was next.

In order to set a terrifying example to any other town that might resist his armies, Cromwell taught the defenders a brutal lesson. Over a period of hours, an estimated 3000 people were massacred, mostly royalist soldiers but also priests, women and children. Aston was bludgeoned to death with his own (wooden) leg. Of the survivors, many were captured and sold into slavery in the Caribbean.

Cromwell defended his action as God’s righteous punishment of treacherous Catholics; he was quick to point out that he had never ordered the killing of noncombatants: it was the 17th century’s version of ‘collateral damage’.

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The Normans constructed a motte-and-bailey fort on top of this convenient command post overlooking the bridge. It was followed by a castle, which in turn was replaced by a Martello tower (adult/child €3/2) in 1808. The tower played a dramatic role in the 1922 Civil War, when it was Drogheda’s chief defensive feature and suffered heavy shelling from Free State forces. It has recently been restored and offers great views over the town below.

It was at Millmount that the defenders of Drogheda, led by the governor Sir Arthur Ashton, made their last stand before surrendering to Cromwell. Later, an 18th-century English barracks was built round the base, and today the buildings house craft shops, museums and a restaurant.

A section of the army barracks is now used as the Millmount Museum ( 041-983 3097; www.millmount.net; adult/child museum €3.50/2.50, museum & tower €5.50/3; 9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Sat, 2-5pm Sun), which has interesting displays about the town and its history. Exhibits include three wonderful late-18th-century guild banners, perhaps the last in the country. There is also a room devoted to Cromwell’s brutal siege of Drogheda and the Battle of the Boyne. The pretty cobbled basement is full of gadgets and kitchen utensils from bygone times, including a cast-iron pressure cooker and an early model of a sofa bed. There’s also an excellent example of a coracle. Across the courtyard, the Governor’s House opens for temporary exhibitions.

You can drive up to the hilltop or climb Pitcher Hill via the steps from St Mary’s Bridge.

The 13th-century Butter Gate, just northwest of Millmount, is the only surviving genuine town gate in Drogheda. This tower, with its arched passageway, predates the remains of St Laurence’s Gate by about a century.

OTHER STRUCTURES

Right in the centre of town is the Tholsel (cnr West & Shop Sts), an 18th-century limestone town hall, now occupied by the Bank of Ireland.

Heading northwest from here is the restored 19th-century courthouse (Fair St), home to the sword and mace presented to the town council by William of Orange after the Battle of the Boyne. To the north is St Peter’s Church of Ireland (William St), containing the tombstone of Oliver Goldsmith’s uncle Isaac, as well as another image on the wall depicting two skeletal figures in shrouds, dubiously linked to the Black Death. This is the church whose spire was burned by Cromwell’s men, resulting in the death of 100 people seeking sanctuary inside. Today’s church (1748) is the second replacement of the original destroyed by Cromwell. It stands in an attractive close approached through lovely wrought-iron gates. Note the