ABSTRACT
Cromwell, with 20,000 men, entered the capital on 15 August with the set purpose of punishing the Irish confederates and of restoring Ireland to order. From Drogheda, Cromwell went on to storm and massacre at Wexford on 11 October, whilst other forces began to reduce Ulster and Munster. Only at Clonmel was Cromwell given a temporary repulse, by Hugh O'Neill, nephew of Owen Roe, on 9 May 1650. In 1653 Ireland was divided into two parts, with Connacht and Clare set aside as a reservation for the native Irish provided they did not settle within four miles of the sea coast. Cromwell ruled as Lord Protector of England and Ireland from December 1653 to his death in 1658, and was represented in Ireland firstly by Charles Fleetwood and then by Cromwell's son Henry, under both of whom the operation of the Act of Settlement was furthered.
