Siege of Drogheda

53°42′50″N 6°21′1″W / 53.71389°N 6.35028°W / 53.71389; -6.35028

Siege of Drogheda (1649)
Part of the Cromwellian Conquest of Ireland
A plan of Drogheda in 1649
Date 3–11 September 1649 Location Drogheda, County Louth Result Commonwealth victory
Belligerents
Royalists Irish Confederates	Commonwealth of England
Commanders and leaders
Arthur Aston	Oliver Cromwell
Strength
2,547[1]	c. 12,000[2]
Casualties and losses
c. 2,000 killed, wounded or captured	c. 150 killed or wounded
700–800 civilians killed[3]

Drogheda

Belfast

Dublin

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Ireland and Drogheda

The siege of Drogheda took place from 3 to 11 September 1649, at the outset of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. The coastal town of Drogheda was held by a mixed garrison of Irish Catholics and Royalists under the command of Sir Arthur Aston, when it was besieged by English Commonwealth forces under Oliver Cromwell. After Aston rejected an invitation to surrender, the town was stormed and much of the garrison executed, along with an unknown but "significant number" of civilians. The aftermath of the siege is viewed as an atrocity which still impacts Cromwell's modern reputation.