#Cromwellian Forces

[stairnaheireann]

Baldongan Church and Tower | Skerries, Co Dublin

This national monument are the ruins of a fortified church constructed by the Knights Templar in the 13th century. A castle which lay adjacent to the church has completely disappeared. The church was built in the 15th century and was furnished with a 70 foot high fortified bell tower. The castle was the home of the ‘Berminghams’ and the ‘Barnwells’ until the Cromwellian invasion. A group of Irish…

[libriamore]

I’ve been visiting Romanesque and Gothic Irish buildings and it’s a bit bizarre because I’ve visited similarly aged buildings in Italy but they were less dilapidated because they didn’t have to deal with the weather and that prick Oliver Cromwell

[lyledebeast]

If I'm remembering this right, what Remmick says to Sammie in his last-ditch effort to turn him when they're both in the water saying the Lord's Prayer together is that the man who taught him that prayer also stole his father's land. When I was in the theater watching it, that line caught me off guard, but I just assumed Remmick is very, very old. Roman empire old. But then I've seen Jack O'Connell, his actor, say in interviews that he's more like 600 years old. If that's the case, Ireland had been Catholic for hundreds of years and would be for hundreds to come, and the idea that he was forced to learn one of the most common Catholic prayers as an act of colonial subjugation is preposterous.

It also occurred to me that Remmick's father's land being taken could be a reference to the Cromwellian Act of Settlement in 1652, which was an act of colonial subjugation, and it was rooted in religious difference. However, the subjugated in that case were Catholic. The same religion being used as a tool of oppression in some parts of the world was the religion of the oppressed in others. History is wild.

So, did Ryan Coogler just . . . forget about Catholicism? Did he just erase hundreds of years of Irish history to make Ireland's narrative of colonization more similar to Africa's than it actually was? That would be horribly hypocritical and fly in the face of the film's best features: its commitment to telling the truth about history and its celebration of diversity. Surely that's not it.

What I think is much more likely is that Remmick is lying about his own history to try to convince Sammie that they have more in common than they actually do. He's told plenty of other lies to get to this point, and he's desperate. That all the information we get about Irish history comes from a deeply unreliable character in very few lines leaves a lot of room for misinterpretation, but at over two hours, Sinners' run time is already pushing it for a horror film in 2025. There are a lot of characters I'd like to know more about. With that being said, there is definitely more time spent on the nuances of African and African American history, and that is as it should be for this film.

[theglowsociety]

The idea that the Irish were enslaved before Black people—or that they were enslaved in the same way—is a myth that has been widely debunked by historians. While the Irish did experience severe oppression, indentured servitude, and forced labor, it is important to distinguish these experiences from the transatlantic chattel slavery that African people endured.

The Truth About Irish Indentured Servitude

During the 17th century, many Irish people were forcibly deported to British colonies like the Caribbean and North America. This happened primarily under English rule, especially after the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649–1653). Thousands of Irish men, women, and children were sent to places like Barbados and Virginia as indentured servants—a system that involved working under contract for a set number of years in exchange for passage, food, and (eventually) freedom.

However, unlike African slaves:

• Irish indentured servants had legal rights and were promised freedom after completing their term (typically 4–7 years).

• Their servitude was temporary, while African slavery was lifelong and hereditary.

• They were still considered human under the law, whereas African slaves were legally treated as property.

Were the Irish “Slaves” in the Caribbean?

Some Irish indentured servants were treated brutally—enduring harsh conditions, beatings, and even death from overwork. This has led some to claim they were “white slaves,” but this misrepresents the reality. The term “slave” implies permanent, hereditary bondage with no path to freedom, which was the case for Africans but not the Irish.

In places like Barbados, Irish laborers worked on plantations alongside enslaved Africans, but there were key legal and social differences:

• African slaves were enslaved for life and their children were born into slavery.

• Irish indentured servants had an end date to their labor, after which they could gain land and status.

• Over time, Irish indentured servitude faded, while African slavery became more entrenched and brutal.

Where Did the Myth Come From?

The “Irish slaves” myth has been spread largely through misinformation and has been used in modern times to:

• Downplay the horrors of African slavery.

• Suggest that white people suffered just as much under slavery.

• Create a false equivalence between indentured servitude and racial slavery.

This narrative often appears in misleading social media posts and is sometimes used by white nationalist groups to dismiss discussions about racism and systemic oppression.

Acknowledging Irish Struggles Without Rewriting History

The Irish did suffer under British colonialism—facing land dispossession, famine, and forced migration. Their experience was brutal, but it was not the same as African slavery. Recognizing this difference doesn’t diminish Irish suffering but instead allows us to accurately understand history.

Instead of comparing oppressions, it’s more productive to acknowledge the unique struggles faced by both Irish and African peoples—and how colonialism shaped their histories in different but deeply impactful ways.

[scotianostra]

On May 3rd 1679, Archbishop James Sharp, Primate of Scotland, was attacked and killed.

James Sharp was born at Banff Castle on 4th May 1613. It was the intention that the young Sharp should enter the Church and so he was educated at King's College, Aberdeen, where he graduated with the degree of MA in 1637. He may have been expelled however in 1638, during continued study, for refusing to adhere to the Covenant, and he went briefly to Oxford.

In 1643 he was appointed Professor of Philosophy at St. Andrews University, and in 1649 became the Minister of nearby Crail in Fife. In 1650 he was elected as a Minister in Edinburgh but a dispute arose about that within the presbytery there and in any case the invasion of Scotland by Cromwell prevented his acceptance. By this time the Kirk in Scotland had become divided into the 'resolutioners' wing and the 'protesters' wing, and Sharp adhered to the former.

The more liberal resolutioners supported the proposal or resolution that those who repented their non-adherence to the Covenant should be allowed to defend the country against Cromwell. Indeed, Sharp became the leader of the 'resolutioners' and he was seized by Cromwellian forces at Alyth in Perthshire in 1651 and taken to the Tower of London.

By 1652 he had returned to Scotland. When Charles II was restored to the throne, Sharp was rewarded with the Archbishopric of St. Andrews and set about the toppling of Presbyterianism in the country rather than attempting to unite Episcopalians and Presbyterians.

Regarded as a zealot who had once been a prominent leader of the Kirk, Sharp was shot at by James Mitchell in the High Street of Edinburgh in July 1668. Ten years or so later, in 1679, the year after Mitchell had been captured and executed for the assassination attempt, a band of Fife Covenanters ambushed Sharp near St. Andrews and murdered him.murder

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 1.17 (before 1946)

38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey. 1362 – Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people on the shores of the North Sea. 1377 – Pope Gregory XI reaches Rome, after deciding to move the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon. 1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano sets sail westward from Madeira to find a sea route to the Pacific Ocean. 1562 – France grants religious toleration to the Huguenots in the Edict of Saint-Germain. 1595 – During the French Wars of Religion, Henry IV of France declares war on Spain. 1608 – Emperor Susenyos I of Ethiopia surprises an Oromo army at Ebenat; his army reportedly kills 12,000 Oromo at the cost of 400 of his men. 1641 – Reapers' War: The Junta de Braços (parliamentary assembly) of the Principality of Catalonia accepts the proposal of establishment of the Catalan Republic under French protection. 1648 – England's Long Parliament passes the "Vote of No Addresses", breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War. 1649 – The Second Ormonde Peace creates an alliance between the Irish Royalists and Confederates during the War of the Three Kingdoms. The coalition was then decisively defeated during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. 1773 – Captain James Cook leads the first expedition to sail south of the Antarctic Circle. 1781 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cowpens: Continental troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeat British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton at the battle in South Carolina. 1799 – Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriots, is executed. 1811 – Mexican War of Independence: In the Battle of Calderón Bridge, a heavily outnumbered Spanish force of 6,000 troops defeats nearly 100,000 Mexican revolutionaries. 1852 – The United Kingdom signs the Sand River Convention with the South African Republic. 1873 – A group of Modoc warriors defeats the United States Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, part of the Modoc War. 1885 – A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan. 1893 – Lorrin A. Thurston, along with the Citizens' Committee of Public Safety, led the Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the government of Queen Liliʻuokalani. 1899 – The United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean. 1903 – El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico becomes part of the United States National Forest System as the Luquillo Forest Reserve. 1904 – Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre. 1912 – British polar explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen. 1915 – Russia defeats Ottoman Turkey in the Battle of Sarikamish during the Caucasus Campaign of World War I. 1917 – The United States pays Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands. 1918 – Finnish Civil War: The first serious battles take place between the Red Guards and the White Guard. 1920 – Alcohol Prohibition begins in the United States as the Volstead Act goes into effect. 1941 – Franco-Thai War: Vichy French forces inflict a decisive defeat over the Royal Thai Navy. 1943 – World War II: Greek submarine Papanikolis captures the 200-ton sailing vessel Agios Stefanos and mans her with part of her crew. 1944 – World War II: Allied forces launch the first of four assaults on Monte Cassino with the intention of breaking through the Winter Line and seizing Rome, an effort that would ultimately take four months and cost 105,000 Allied casualties. 1945 – World War II: The Vistula–Oder Offensive forces German troops out of Warsaw. 1945 – The SS-Totenkopfverbände begin the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp as the Red Army closes in. 1945 – Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg is taken into Soviet custody while in Hungary; he is never publicly seen again.

[maeve-an-bhanchainti]

"there's so many cool castles in ireland" okay yeah but imagine all the cool castles we've never seen and never will that were demolished under Cromwell to make it easier to forcibly transplant all catholic Irish ppl to Connacht

[venicepearl]

Massacre at Drogheda to print the book "History of Ireland from 400 to 1800" - Henry Edward Doyle

The siege of Drogheda or the Drogheda massacre took place 3–11 September 1649, at the outset of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. The coastal town of Drogheda was held by the Irish Catholic Confederation and English Royalists under the command of Sir Arthur Aston when it was besieged by Parliamentarian forces under Oliver Cromwell. After Aston rejected an invitation to surrender, the town was stormed and much of the garrison was executed including an unknown but "significant number" of civilians. The outcome of the siege and the extent to which civilians were targeted is a significant topic of debate among historians.

[myhauntedsalem]

Shadow Monk

The photo to the left was taken in Ireland’s historic Muckross Abbey. Could the shadowy figure in the background be the ghost of a long-dead friar?

Founded in 1448, Muckross Abbey has a dark and violent past. The abbey was home to Franciscan friars who were repeatedly raided by bands of marauders. The men also suffered from Cromwellian forces. Now, only ruins of the once majestic structure remain.

The graveyard surrounding the abbey has a chilling reputation. One creepy legend speaks of a man who dug up the body of his newly dead wife and feasted on her corpse. Some say Bram Stoker also spent time in the cemetery.

Other odd events at Muckross Abbey include the faint sounds of Gregorian chanting and a general sense of unease.

[wolfpawn]

I Hate You, I Love You, Chapter 142

Chapter Summary - Danielle's cousin Siobhan and her boyfriend come to London sparking Tom to realise he never knew something about Danielle.

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long.  This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously.

Copyright for the photo is the owners, not mine. All image rights belong to their owners

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog @jessibelle-nerdy-mum @nonsensicalobsessions @damalseer @hiddlesbitch1 @winterisakiller @fairlightswiftly @salempoe @wolfsmom1 @black-ninja-blade

In certain areas of Ireland, Irish is still the first spoken language, not English, including parts of Connemara, Kerry, Cork and Donegal, amongst others. Kids actually do not speak English in the home with their family, it is not their first tongue.

The amount of times I have physically grimaced in the face of Americans and British people who try to tell me how our names are pronounced and spelt because they have had someone in their family 5 generations go that was Irish, so of course, they know more than someone raised in Irish, is growing by the day.

Right, here is a fun fact. Irish is not a phonetic language. The names are Siobhan - Shiv-awn Dáithí - Dah-hee Caoilfhionn - Kee-lin Aoife - Ee-fa

'Guess who?’ A pair of hands came over Danielle’s eyes.

‘How many Irish people do you expect me to know in the one station at the time you are arriving in?’ She laughed as she turned around to hug her cousin. ‘How was your journey?’

‘Confusing, Heathrow is mad.’

‘You get used to it.’ She looked at the guy that was next to her cousin. ‘And you must be Dáithí.’ She smiled, leaning forward and giving him a hug. ‘I believe it’s your first time to these parts.’

‘Tis, alright.’

‘Ah, a Waterford man. Speak slowly for them here, if you don’t they’ll be easily confused.’ The pair laughed. So, this is where we need to go to get the Northern Line.’ She instructed, taking them to the correct area of the station to get to their destination. ‘Tom and I are taking you two out for dinner and we will drop you at your hotel afterwards, alright?’

‘What, no Danielle, don’t worry yourself.’

‘I am not worrying myself, I mean it, we want to do this for you. Nothing fancy, just lovely Indian we always use, and this is not your local takeaway place; if it says spicy, it fucking means it.’

‘How are you with a privately educated Brit, you are too normal.’

‘Tom is not averse to swearing, I assure you.’ Danielle laughed as they got to the platform. ‘Four minutes.’ She stated, looking at the time for the next train, a man close to them seeing the sign and swearing at it as he did. ‘One thing about these parts, four minutes may as well be five hours, the way some people act.’

‘They’d die in Ireland.’

‘Yes, so don’t get too bothered when they start huffing and puffing like they want to blow down a house of straw in a few minutes.’ Danielle stated as she watched the time to the next train come down. When they got to the correct station, she ordered them off and walked them to the right house.

‘Wait, you live here?’

‘Yes.’ Danielle laughed at her cousin. ‘What were you expecting?’

‘It’s just so you.’

‘Well, it’s Toms, actually, not mine, but yes. I love it.’ She put the key in the door just as she heard Siobhan fawning. ‘I hope you like dogs, Dáithí.’

‘We have three at my Mam’s.’

‘Grand so.’ She opened the door, the dogs immediately rushing over. ‘Bed.’ Mac looked as though he had been struck, disheartened, he trotted to his bed, groaning as he did, Bobby looking between his big brother and the new humans to sniff before finally sensing Danielle’s body language was stern and trotting there sadly.

‘You’re so mean.’ Siobhan commented. ‘He’s only a puppy.’

‘Yep, he is.’ Danielle nodded, saying nothing more.

‘You are going to be the Mom that every other child in the school fears, you know that, right?’

‘Probably.’ Danielle acknowledged. ‘But then, my kids wouldn’t be the little shits running around the shop making a mess and back answering teachers.’

‘Yeah, that’s true actually.’ Siobhan conceded. ‘Is Tom here?’

‘Yes, he is working on something in his office, he’ll be down when he realises we’re here. Put your bags over there and we’ll get tea. I have Barry’s.’

‘What does Tom think of it?’

‘Tom maintains it’s fine, nothing special about it….but seems to find himself going for the box of that over the box of PG Tips.’ Danielle smiled, causing the other two to laugh. A moment later, the dogs’ ears shot up. ‘Here he is.’ When the sound of footfalls on the stairs became apparent, Danielle made another cup of tea.

A moment later, Tom walked into the room, an empty cup in his hand. ‘Hello.’ He smiled, before putting down the cup and walking over to Siobhan. ‘Great to see you again, did you have a good flight?’ He gave her a hug.

‘Hello, yes, it was fine, it’s so short you are hardly in the air when you are coming down again.’ She joked. ‘Tom, this is Dáithí, Dáithí, this is clearly Tom, Danielle’s….what do you call it?’

‘Long-suffering fool.’ Danielle jested as both men shook hands; when they were done, she walked over to Tom. ‘I’ll trade.’ She held out the fresh cup of tea and took the coffee mug off him.

‘That’s a good trade.’ Tom grinned. ‘What have I missed?’

‘Just that Danielle is going to be that mother that if she says “Sit Down” in a restaurant, her kids, all other kids, four husbands and a waiter will obey out of sheer fear alone.’ Siobhan recapped. ‘Ooh, did I show you the pictures of Laura’s baby?’

‘No, show me now.’ Danielle rushed over. ‘Oh my God, she looks so like her and you.’

‘I know. She is the cutest thing. I steal her any time I see her.’ Siobhan moved through the pictures.

‘How did Bernie take it?’

‘Oh, she’s the doting grandmother now.’

‘Of course, she is.’ Danielle rolled her eyes, having known her aunt’s reaction to the pregnancy. ‘Oh, before I forget, stay here, I have two outfits I got for her that I want you to bring back.’ Danielle left the room and went up the stairs to retrieve the bag with the little outfits she had purchased on hearing of the safe arrival of her cousin’s daughter. When she went back into the kitchen, Tom looked utterly baffled. ‘Is everything okay?’

‘Say Laura’s baby’s name.’ Siobhan laughed.

‘Why?’

‘Just say it.’ she encouraged.

‘Caoilfhionn Aoife McNamara.’ Danielle looked at them all.

‘See.’ Siobhan beamed.

‘What’s going on?’ Danielle asked.

‘Tom saw how Caoilfhionn is spelt.’ Dáithí explained.

‘Ah, right.’ Danielle, realising there was no actual problem, went over to Siobhan with the bag. ‘You had me worried.’

‘Worried...how the fuck is that word pronounced like that?’ Tom exclaimed.

‘Because it is.’ Danielle shrugged. ‘That’s Irish, it’s not even in the same branch of languages as English, it is very close to Scottish Gael though, your dad might have known speakers of that growing up.’

‘There’s an “f” in it.’

‘Yes, I know. I know how to spell it.’ Danielle stated.

‘You do know Danielle was raised in Connemara. Her parents didn’t speak to her in English all her life, right?’ Siobhan pointed out.

Tom stared at Danielle. ‘What?’

‘Connemara is a Gaeltacht, the first language in those regions is Irish, not English.’ She shrugged. ‘Everyone there speaks Irish as their first language.’

‘But your mother was not from there?’

‘No, she was from Beara in Cork, the Cork Gaeltacht.’ She explained. ‘I learnt English in school when I was five.’

‘Really?’

‘Did I not tell you this?’

‘No.’

‘Whoops.’ She gave the bag to Siobhan. ‘Look at the little yellow one.’

‘So...you only spoke English in school?’ Tom reiterated.

‘In English lessons, yes, the rest of the time, we were taught in as Gaeilge so unless I went to Galway for the day with my parents, I could go a couple of days without speaking or hearing a single word of English.’ She looked at his shocked face. ‘You saw how Aoife is spelt too, right?’ He shook his head. ‘How would you spell it.’

‘E.F.A.’ She shook her head. ‘E.E.F.A.?’

Again Danielle shook her head. ‘I’ll give you a hint. The “A” is at the start and the “E” is at the end.’

‘Fuck off. No, you’re just joking now.’

‘A.O.I.F.E.’ She spelt.

‘I…’ Tom sighed. ‘I give up.’

‘Siobhan has a “B”. And Dáithí has a “T”.’ She stated.

‘Why is it so complicated?’

‘Because it is older than English and we like to confuse you.’

‘So that incomprehensible mumbling you do when calculating things is not just gibberish?’

‘Moda means plus, Luda means minus and the rest is usually numbers, all in Irish, all force of habit.’ She explained with a smile.

*

The evening was pleasant, with Tom and Danielle bringing the younger pair to dinner. When that was done, Danielle drove them to the Travelodge that they were staying at, with a plan to meet them a day or two later to do some sightseeing with them before saying their farewells.

While tidying the house for the evening, Tom found himself looking at Danielle a lot.

‘Dare I ask?’

‘So in all respects, this is your second language, English?’

‘Are you still bothered by that?’ She asked curiously.

‘I just never thought…’

‘When the Plantations occurred, and the Cromwellian situation after, most of the Irish were hunted to Connacht, where the land was wet and as a result, the language never waned as it did in other areas, famine, war, none of it took the language there. Sure, look at the Welsh, their language all but died and was revived, now it is a popular language in some parts of there again.’

‘I know, I just...Do you think in Irish or in English?’

‘It varies from moment to moment.’ She smirked, using his line, causing him to smile. ‘When I am at home here, tidying and what not, more often, in Irish I suppose. I speak Irish to the dogs some days or listen to Radio na Gaeltachta online or something. I get worried I will lose it sometimes. I love my language.’

‘I never even considered it.’ He confessed. ‘How come I never hear it on?’

‘I rarely have the radio on when you are home.’

‘Well, from now on, if you want to listen and I am here, please do.’

‘You won’t understand three words.’

‘No, I won’t, but it matter to you, and so long as it is not secretly trying to plan some form of attack on my home, I don’t particularly mind.’ He put his arms around her.

‘Damn, you’re onto them.’ She smiled, leaning up and kissing him.

Tom chuckled for a moment. ‘So, if we decide to have kids, would you speak Irish to them?’

‘Definitely.’

‘I will have to learn it so.’ He kissed her again. ‘Elle?’

‘Hmm?’

‘Please never consider calling one a word I could never hope to spell.’

[bantarleton]

The Battle of Dunkeld - a 16-hour 17th century street-fight

So, today I visited Dunkeld for the first time, making it the fifth battlefield I’ve been to this year - needless to say I took some pics, so thought I may as well write up a summary to go with them. Dunkeld was both bloody and pivotal, and deserves a bigger part in Scotland’s history.

The Background

In 1638 the Covenanter movement in Scotland defied Charles I’s attempts to end Presbyterianism in the country, ultimately resulting in the British Civil Wars, Charles’s execution and the Cromwellian Commonwealth. In 1660, following Cromwell’s death, Charles II was restored to the throne, and promptly set about persecting the Scots Covenanters who had helped defeat his father. This period, known as the Killing Times in Scottish history, saw the Covenanter movement driven underground. 

After Charles II’s death his brother, James II, became king. This was an issue because James was both ardently Roman Catholic and absolutist - cue the Protestant Dutch Prince William of Orange, husband of James’s sister Mary, being invited to take the thrones of Scotland, England and Ireland. This he did during the Glorious Revolution of 1688. James fled to Ireland, thus triggering the first Jacobite uprisings in both Ireland and Scotland (“Jacobite” comes from the Latin name for James, Jacobus, eg. “supporter of James”). In Scotland the Jacobites defeated a British government/Williamite force at the battle of Killiecrankie, but in doing so lost their commander, James Claverhouse. Seeking a morale boost, the new commander decided to attack the small pro-Williamite garrison at the town of Dunkeld, just north of Perth on the edge of the Scottish highlands. The force of 5,000 Jacobite highlanders anticipated an easy victory over Dunkeld’ s 700 defenders. 

What they failed to factor in was that said defenders were Scottish Covenanters. William of Orange had promised to defend the Presbyterian faith once he took the throne, meaning the persecuted Covenanters rose up to support the revolution of 1688. An entire regiment was raised in a single night, named “the Cameronians” after the Covenanter leader and Presbyterian preacher Richard Cameron. After nearly thirty years of executions and religious oppression, the Cameronian Covenanters were prepared to fight to the death against the supporters of James Stuart, despite the fact that they had only been issued a few hundred muskets - most of them were armed with old pikes and halberds. 

The Battle

On the morning of August 21 1689 Jacobite artillery on Gallows Hill overlooking the town opened fire. The Cameronians rushed to defend the town’s houses, centering their defence on the cathedral, Dunkeld House, and the town’s market cross (pictured above). The Jacobite assault came from all sides bar the south-western flank, protected by the River Tay. 

After just an hour of fighting the Cameronians’ commander, 27-year-old Colonel William Cleland, was fatally shot in the head and liver. He managed to get out of sight before dying, ensuring his men were not demoralised by his demise. The regiment’s second in command was soon killed as well. The Cameronians fought on, from house to house. Both sides began to set fire to buildings being held by the enemy, and the flames quickly spread. The Cameronians were forced back from the town cross towards the cathedral.

The view above is the area once occupied by the town, seen from just outside the cathedral. In the distance is Gallow Hill, where the Jacobite artillery was sited. The streets that once stood here were ablaze by late afternoon, with fighting raging from one street to the next.

Most Jacobites, being highlanders, were fearsome close-quarter combatants, armed as they were with broadswords and small shields. The highland charge had decimated well-armed professional forces at Killicrankie less than a month earlier. Ironically however, the poor equipment of the Cameronians likely saved their lives. While able to rush in on men struggling to reload their muskets, the comparatively lightly-armed and unarmoured highlanders found themselves unable to combat foes armed with pikes and halberds, especially when said foes had their flanks protected by narrow streets. The Cameronians were therefore able to fight hand-to-hand with the Jacobites throughout the day.

The street above is one that was defended by the Cameronians just outside the cathedral. 

Despite their resistance, as the day wore on it became obvious the Cameronians were going to be overrun. The ammunition for what muskets they had was almost spent, and almost all of the town of Dunkeld was ablaze. The cathedral’s wall was riddled with bullets (some of which can still be seen in the stonework below).

Towards eleven in the evening, the Cameronians were preparing for what they assumed would be the final assault. As time went by, they were shocked to realise that it would never come - the Jacobites had withdrawn. Three reasons are given as to why they chose to retreat. Firstly, that darkness was falling, second, that they feared reinforcements were on their way to support the Cameronians, and thirdly that they had no wish to fight men they described as “mad devils” any longer. The truth is likely a mixture of all three. Regardless, the battle of Dunkeld was over. Against odds of around 6-1 the Cameronians had won.

Dunkeld was the turning point of the war in Scotland. The Jacobite rising collapsed. The same occurred in Ireland over the next to years, when William of Orange won his victories at Aughrim and the Boyne. The Cameronians had avenged the deaths of thousands of Covenanters over the previous decades, and had won the lasting victory for their cause - the maintenance of Presbyterianism in Scotland. The regiment itself became a fully-fledge part of the British Army, first as the 26th Regiment of Foot, then as the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). To commemorate their origins guarding Covenanter prayer gatherings they were the only British Army regiment allowed to carry arms in a church, and every new member of the regiment was issued a Bible as a nod to Richard Cameron.

William Cleland was buried in Dunkeld cathedral and honoured with a plaque. 

[stairnaheireann]

Baldongan Church and Tower | Skerries, Co Dublin

Baldongan Church and Tower | Skerries, Co Dublin

This national monument are the ruins of a fortified church constructed by the Knights Templar in the 13th century. A castle which lay adjacent to the church has completely disappeared. The church was built in the 15th century and was furnished with a 70 foot high fortified bell tower. The castle was the home of the ‘Berminghams’ and the ‘Barnwells’ until the Cromwellian invasion. A group of Irish…

[streetsofdublin]

RATHMINES ROAD LOWER AND NEARBY [A QUICK VISIT]-158188 by William Murphy Via Flickr: Rathmines is an inner suburb on the south-side of Dublin, about 3 kilometres south of the city centre. It effectively begins at the south side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to the south, Ranelagh to the east and Harold's Cross to the west. It is situated in the city's Dublin 6 postal district. Rathmines is best known historically for a bloody battle that took place there in 1649, during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, leading to the death of perhaps up to 5,000 people. The Battle of Rathmines took place on 2 August 1649 and led to the routing of Royalist forces in Ireland shortly after this time. Some have compared the Battle of Rathmines - or sometimes Baggotrath - as equal in political importance to England's Battle of Naseby. The battle brought a swift end to the ongoing Royalist Siege of Dublin. Rathmines has thriving commercial and civil activity and is well known across Ireland as part of a traditional "flatland" - providing rented accommodation to newly arrived junior civil servants and third level students coming from outside the city since the 1930s. In more recent times, Rathmines has diversified its housing stock and many houses have been gentrified by the wealthier beneficiaries of Ireland's economic boom of the 1990s. Rathmines, nonetheless, is often said to have a cosmopolitan air, and has a diverse international population and has always been home to groups of new immigrant communities and indigenous ethnic minorities.

[faughanbeallach]

headcanon ; scars

( content warning for discussion of uh, scars, and some brief descriptions of early modern torture methods )

Personifying a nation with a past rife with oppression and upheaval, Ciarán has more than a few scars. Unsurprisingly, almost all of them come from conflict with England. 

The most prominent of these is across his throat-- if you’ve ever seen Inglourious Basterds, Brad Pitt’s character has a scar like this. Ciarán got it while being interrogated by the British army after the failed Rebellion of 1798. Half-hanging was a favorite method of torture employed against members and suspected supporters of the Society of United Irishmen, wherein a rope is pulled across the victim’s neck until unconscious and slackened, with the victim being revived each time and the process repeated. Ciarán was one of many Irishmen, Catholic and Protestant alike, who, inspired by the revolt in America and supported by Britain’s long-time rival, France, joined the United Irishmen in taking up arms against the British authorities in Ireland. He continued to fight as a guerrilla, hiding in the Wicklow Mountains until the autumn of that year, when the leader of his band, Joseph Holt, was forced into surrender. Ciarán was subsequently imprisoned and tortured for information that he refused to give.

He has a mostly healed burn scar going up the back of his left leg from the Siege of Drogheda, during the earlier Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, which left thousands of Irish dead and even more forced to leave their homes.  During the siege, Oliver Cromwell’s forces fired indiscriminately upon civilians and then set fire to the churches they sought shelter in. This was in addition to catching the plague within the next year or so; the horrible conditions brought on by four years of non-stop warfare brought a particularly virulent outbreak of the Black Death to Ireland. Cromwell’s invasion of the island led to a population drop with estimates ranging from a modest 15% to a devastating 83%. 

He has another scar on his other leg, this one being a bullet wound on his  outer thigh from being hit with an incendiary round during the 1916 Easter Rising. It healed fast enough for him enlist with the guerrilla forces by 1919. During the subsequent war for independence, a blow to the face from a Black and Tan (the name given to the notoriously brutal British soldiers recruited to assist the Royal Irish Constabulary) broke his nose and left it slightly crooked. 

[scotianostra]

On June 30th 1685, the 9th Earl of Argyll went the same way as his father the 8th earl, when he was executed in Edinburgh.

This post ties in with a few others, the first just a couple of days ago, the execution of Richard Rumbold, who joined Archibald Campbell, the 9th Earl in what is known as The Argyll Rising, an attempt to dethrone King James VII.

The English know this as the Monmouth Uprising, for reasons that will become apparent, this was naked attempt to overthrow the incumbent of the throne, James VII & II, and place the Duke of Monmouth, Charles II’s illegitimate offspring, there in his place.

Much has been written of Monmouth’s part of the rebellion but there is comparatively little commentary on Argyll’s efforts with the Scottish aspect of the rebellion.

Monmouth, having landed at Lyme Regis in June 1685 with less than 100 men, was quickly reinforced by local volunteers to the tune of 1000 troops. Over the next 4 weeks his army fought a serious of indecisive skirmishes against royalist troops before he was brought to a definitive set-piece battle at Sedgemoor a month after landing where his poorly trained and disorganised force was utterly routed by the regulars of the King’army. Monmouth was duly executed for high treason.

If Monmouth’s end of the rebellion was comical, Argyll’s efforts north of the border degenerated swiftly to the farcical. Arriving in Orkney a month before Monmouth docked at Lyme Regis, Archibald spent 4 weeks sailing around the west coast attempting to round up supporters for his cause. Bedevilled by lack of support and mutiny amongst those who did rally to his colours, he finally found himself at Dumbarton with only his son and 3 friends by his side. Subsequently captured by Government troops Argyll was executed in Edinburgh a week before Monmouth met his end.

This Archibald, the 9th Earl, features in the Claverhouse story as much as Oor Archibald, the 10th Earl. To his credit he fought for his king and Scotland against the depredations of Cromwell and took part in both military disasters of the Battle of Dunbar in 1650 and then the Battle of Worcester the following year. He survived through the interregnum, keeping one foot on both Stuart and Cromwellian camps, trusted by neither and viewed with high suspicion by both. And his father, Archibald the 8th Earl was executed on Charles II command in the immediate aftermath of the restoration in 1660.

In the complicated political atmosphere post the Restoration, Archibald the 9th Earl, sought to navigate the difficult waters but was confounded by the passing of the Test Act in 1681. This required all the nobility to take an oath which required a profession of the Protestant religion AND an affirmation of royal supremacy in all matters spiritual and temporal, aye it’s that old divine right again.

This created too much of a compromise for Archibald who refused to take the oath and was, consequently, tried before his peers in December 1681, with one John Graham of Claverhouse present on the jury, he was sentenced to death. But prior to his execution he managed to escape from Edinburgh Castle, in disguise, and abetted by his step daughter Lady Sophie Lindsay. He was eventually executed, as outlined above, following the failure of Monmouth’s Rebellion.

This snippet describing his demise is fro Edinburgh Old And New…..

At noon on the 30th June, 1685, he was escorted to the market cross to be “beheaded and have his head affixed to the Tolbooth on a high pin of iron.” When he saw the old Scottish guillotine, under the terrible square knife of which his father, and so many since the days of Morton, had perished, he saluted it with his lips, saying, “It is the sweetest maiden I have ever kissed.” “My lord dies a Protestant!” Cried a clergyman aloud to the assembled thousands. “Yes,” said the Earl, stepping forward, “and not only a Protestant, but with a heart-hatred of Popery, Prelacy, and all superstition.” He made a brief address to the people, laid his head between the grooves of the guillotine, and died with equal courage and composure. His head was placed on the Tolbooth gable, and his body was ultimately sent to the burial-place of his family, Kilmun, on the shore of the Holy Loch in Argyle.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 1.17 (before 1945)

38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey. 1362 – Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people on the shores of the North Sea. 1377 – Pope Gregory XI reaches Rome, after deciding to move the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon. 1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano sets sail westward from Madeira to find a sea route to the Pacific Ocean. 1562 – France grants religious toleration to the Huguenots in the Edict of Saint-Germain. 1595 – During the French Wars of Religion, Henry IV of France declares war on Spain. 1608 – Emperor Susenyos I of Ethiopia surprises an Oromo army at Ebenat; his army reportedly kills 12,000 Oromo at the cost of 400 of his men. 1641 – The Junta de Braços (parliamentary assembly) of the Principality of Catalonia proclaimed the Catalan Republic under French protection. 1648 – England's Long Parliament passes the "Vote of No Addresses", breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War. 1649 – The Second Ormonde Peace creates an alliance between the Irish Royalists and Confederates during the War of the Three Kingdoms. The coalition was then decisively defeated during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. 1773 – Captain James Cook leads the first expedition to sail south of the Antarctic Circle. 1781 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cowpens: Continental troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeat British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton at the battle in South Carolina. 1799 – Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriots, is executed. 1811 – Mexican War of Independence: In the Battle of Calderón Bridge, a heavily outnumbered Spanish force of 6,000 troops defeats nearly 100,000 Mexican revolutionaries. 1852 – The United Kingdom signs the Sand River Convention with the South African Republic. 1873 – A group of Modoc warriors defeats the United States Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, part of the Modoc War. 1885 – A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan. 1893 – Lorrin A. Thurston, along with the Citizens' Committee of Public Safety, led the Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the government of Queen Liliʻuokalani. 1899 – The United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean. 1903 – El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico becomes part of the United States National Forest System as the Luquillo Forest Reserve. 1904 – Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre. 1912 – British polar explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen. 1915 – Russia defeats Ottoman Turkey in the Battle of Sarikamish during the Caucasus Campaign of World War I. 1917 – The United States pays Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands. 1918 – Finnish Civil War: The first serious battles take place between the Red Guards and the White Guard. 1920 – Alcohol Prohibition begins in the United States as the Volstead Act goes into effect. 1941 – Franco-Thai War: Vichy French forces inflict a decisive defeat over the Royal Thai Navy. 1943 – World War II: Greek submarine Papanikolis captures the 200-ton sailing vessel Agios Stefanos and mans her with part of her crew. 1944 – World War II: Allied forces launch the first of four assaults on Monte Cassino with the intention of breaking through the Winter Line and seizing Rome, an effort that would ultimately take four months and cost 105,000 Allied casualties.