Episode 1

On September 11, 1649, an army stormed the town of Drogheda and as many as 3,500 people were slaughtered, unleashed by the great bogey-man of Irish history – Oliver Cromwell. In this first episode the historical context of 17th century Ireland and the religious conflict taking place in Ireland and Britain unfolds.

On September 11, 1649, an army stormed the town of Drogheda and as many as 3,500 people were slaughtered, unleashed by the great bogey-man of Irish history – Oliver Cromwell. In this first episode the historical context of 17th century Ireland and the religious conflict taking place in Ireland and Britain unfolds. We meet the main players in the conflict, including Cromwell himself and his Irish adversaries, the O’Neills, the most powerful of all the Gaelic clans. We meet the brilliant General, Owen Roe O’Neill returned from the continental wars with his kinsman Hugh Dubh O’Neill and 300 trained Irish soldiers. Owen Roe was a soldier with over 30 years experience in wars on the continent. But even a battle-hardened veteran like him was shocked at the ravages of war on the countryside.

The aim of the series was to place the viewer as close to the action as possible. As the story unfolds through reconstruction, location footage, CGI, stylised drama, aerials and rostrum, we explored the significance of Cromwell’s campaign from multiple perspectives, bringing new insight and paralleling the events of the 1640s and 1650s with subsequent events in modern history.

We trace the events that led to the first and most infamous atrocities of his campaign at Drogheda and Wexford. The episode climaxes with the death of Owen Roe O’Neill, Ireland’s greatest military leader.

‘By his death the enemy is grown strong and cruel. For now the enemy does not fear the name of General Owen O’Neill, which not long before did sound like a thunderbolt in his ears. As long as he breathed life, we were to stand in possession of this land, now all whipped and snatched out of our hands.’

– Hugh Dubh O’Neill

Who now can stand against Cromwell?