Cromwell was no figure of fantasy

ACCORDING to Declan Doyle (Letters, June 28), the Catholic Church made this a “far more oppressive society than the fantasy Oliver Cromwell ever did”.

If Mr Doyle truly believes this, then the only one holding a fantasy view both of Oliver Cromwell and of the church is himself.

Certain facts regarding Cromwell’s Irish campaign are indisputable. I would remind Mr Doyle of the notorious example of the slaughter of the civilian population of Drogheda on Cromwell’s direct orders.

According to Frances Stuart, who specialises in development economics at the University of Oxford, Cromwell’s Parliamentary Army “adopted a deliberate policy of crop burning and starvation which was responsible for the majority of an estimated 600,000 deaths out of a total Irish population of 1,400,000”.

What is truly ironic is that in decrying the “myth-makers”, Mr Doyle himself chooses to add his own myths to Irish history.

To paraphrase the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Mr Doyle is entitled to his own opinions, but not to his own facts.

JJ McGrath

Birchgrove

Hollyford

Co Tipperary