I could write a book on this subject but instead I offer a few fragments.

Thinking about Oliver Cromwell brings thoughts of “Bonnie Prince Charlie”, (also known as “The Young Pretender”) son of James Stuart (Scot) and Maria Clementina Sobieska (Polish). The father of James Stuart was King James II.

The Battle of Culloden in 1745 was an attempt to restore Charles to the thrown. It was a bloody cruel battle of indescribable proportions. Charles was Catholic and had the support of the Highland Scotts.

France opposed Cromwell and sent a company (120) men from an Irish group in France. They did not want to send the French army as that would be war! This was seen as support for Catholics.

After the battle was lost by Charles, he fled Scotland. I could describe the battle in great detail. Cromwell learned of the 120 Irish soldiers who opposed the British Army, and used this as an invitation to invade Ireland.

Many Irish men, women and children were murdered by the British Army. Thousands of Irish were sent to the Caribbean as slaves to work on sugar plantations. Some of the slaves were sent to Jamaica.

A little story about Irish slaves in Jamaica. There was an Irish American who lived in Boston. He was researching his family history and found evidence that he had family members who were sent to Jamaica as slaves. He went to Jamaica and went to the main catholic church where he found direct evidence of his family members and their children, etc.

He found the address of family members who lived in Jamaica and went to visit. He knocked on the door and was greeted by a black man with blue eyes. He then said, “Oh, I must have the wrong house” and left! Well, it was a family member and he lost a great opportunity to meet someone he was related to. The Irish were basically assimilated into Jamaican culture and were mixed with black slaves.

I was once asked by a friend of mine who is African American, "What would you would do if a black person rang your doorbell and said, 'I am your long lost cousin'"! I replied, "I would open my door give my cousin a big hug and invite him in"! Well, that is just me.








>Studying history, as always one of my interests, I'm interested in hearing opinions on Oliver Cromwell from the UK, from anyone that cares to comment, pro or con, and why.
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>I know he was a controversial figure, and yes, I do have the song Oliver Cromwell in the Monty Python CD.