The true nature and extent of violence and atrocity in sixteenth – and seventeenth – century Ireland has been neglected by historians to a surprising degree. This book highlights the brutality of the period and looks at instances of atrocity perpetrated by major figures such as Hugh O’Neill, Mountjoy, and Oliver Cromwell, as well as by less well-known characters. It examines massacres at Maynooth, Smerwick, Carrickmines and Drogheda; the evolution of Tudor policies of scorched earth and ‘total war’ is revealed; and several essays investigate the harrying of settlers during the 1641 rebellion and the savage government reaction.
