Despite the short period he spent in a relatively small part of the island, Oliver Cromwell has made a distinct impact on Irish history and society. His time in Ireland saw two notorious urban massacres, in excess of twenty other towns surrendering before bombardment could begin, and one significant blow to the reputation of Cromwell as a commander at Clonmel. The period named after him saw large-scale expropriation of estates, and massive loss of life through conventional violence, famine (frequently caused by intentional scorched-earth tactics), and disease. Whilst interest in Cromwell and the mid-seventeenth century generally has waxed and waned across generations of historians, Irish collective and cultural memories have held him in sharp focus for a considerable length of time.
Sarah Covington's excellent work is a study of how this man's time in Ireland was remembered and, as we are sometimes inclined to fail to consider, how he was occasionally forgotten. It is, thus, a cultural, historiographical and folkloric history of the centuries that followed the lord general's time in Ireland. As she is at pains to point out, this is not an attempt to identify and ‘explode the ‘myths’ … Such an endeavor would result in little more than a patronizing parlor-game exercise.’ For although such a book might well make a considerable volume, it would not be a particularly useful one. In particular, Covington makes a point of approaching her topic in a manner similar to that of Guy Beiner's pioneering work on 1798. In undertaking this study, she has been eminently successful.
The scene is set with ‘the aftermath’, considering the more immediate rendering of Cromwell's reputation by many contemporaries and near contemporaries from Broghill in his plays, through an Dúna, Ó Rathaille and Ó Bruadair in poetry, to Clarendon and Ludlow in memoirs. What follows then are six chapters dealing with Cromwell and the development of his reputation in Ireland under a number of themes. The first of these is that of religion. Whilst we might immediately think of his attitude and actions toward the Catholics of Ireland, he also had a more than fraught relationship with the Episcopalians, Presbyterians and other dissenters that are discussed in fascinating detail.
The chapter about the political Cromwell makes for a particularly interesting read. Not only does it deal with somewhat obvious remembrances of Cromwell and his negative reputation at monster meetings in the 1840s and with increasing venom by the Young Irelanders: perhaps more interesting are the intentional efforts by some to forget. Many of the United Irishmen, for example, made an intentional effort to avoid references to him for fear that it would ignite sectarian divisions in the movement. So too, ‘Propertied Cromwell’ is discussed at length as having an impact in the years after his death on those who were losers and winners in the Restoration, in what was largely a confirmation of the 1650s settlement. It was to continue well into the nineteenth century and beyond as land agitation continued as a prominent feature of Irish-British relations.
Perhaps the most enjoyable reads are those that are dealt with by the ruination and folklore chapters. The former deals with the memory developed around the built environment including castles, walls, towers, homes and churches. There is also a fascinating memory of furniture, and even portraits, bestowed on families by, or connected with, Cromwell. Indeed, this reviewer has eaten his dinner off a table in an Irish country farmhouse, bought at auction from a nearby castle where the subject is reputed to have stayed. The latter chapter deals with the oral and folklore tradition, frequently transferred to print, in Ireland. In particular, the chapter makes use of the National Folklore Collection at University College Dublin. In this chapter, Covington understands and relates to the reader the how the ‘Irish Cromwell’ was ‘contained and manipulated within the interpretive and controlling parameters of mockery, derision, super-naturalization, and even demonization, and often … being outwitted … by the ‘‘common folk’’’ (p. 281). A chapter that one might not have expected is the penultimate one on ‘Migrated Cromwell’, dealing with the transfer of many of these above themes across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States where it had an impact on Irish-American identity and was referenced continually in many major strands of American politics.
Although not always regarded as the making or breaking of a book, and despite the failure to insert adequate headings into the archival section of the bibliography, at more than fifty pages the bibliography represents an incredibly useful resource — especially so considering this relatively underdeveloped corner of our discipline. It is also worth noting the very reasonable pricing of this beautifully produced volume, especially so when similar (and sometimes much lesser) hardback publications can frequently cost in excess of £100. Covington has, therefore, made this fascinating topic eminently accessible in many more ways than one.
This book is essential reading not just for those interested in Cromwell and his time in Ireland, but in Irish folklore and in the theory of historical memory. Covington's assured handling of a myriad of sources, all too frequently ignored by many Irish historians, her accessible writing and her infectious engagement makes this book a marked success.
