Rebellion 1641.

This is coolbert:

 "They were . . . made with their blood to answer for the cruelties they had exercised upon diverse poor Protestants." - - Cromwell.

THEY the Irish Catholics during the 1641 Rebellion.

Cruelty and atrocity as perpetrated undeniable but exaggerated in an unseemly manner?

From the book "Irish History For Dummies" by Mike Cronin.

 "Massacre in Ulster"

"The rebellion of 1641 was later used in propaganda showing how evil and degenerate the Irish were. It was seen as a moment in history when the Protestant population had been ruthlessly attacked., and if the Protestants wanted to prosper in Ireland they would always have to be wary of such attacks in the future. To instill fear in Protestant populations of the future, 1641 was always remembered as a time when more than 100,000 settlers had been brutally murdered by their Catholic neighbors. This total is still quoted in many histories, but completely overstates the actual numbers killed. Most historians now recognize that the real figure is nearer to 4,000 Protestants being killed during the 1641 rebellion."

"1641 Propaganda"

"The massacres of 1641 soon became the stuff of legend, and dominated the gossip in England that autumn and winter. The evidence, whether or not it was real, of what had happened to the settlers was all the evidence that the English (and Scottish) needed to prove that the Catholic Irish were a bunch of Godless Savages. Refugees fled the massacres of Ulster and began arriving in Dublin - - many would eventually return to England where they told stories about the awful things that had happened to them. Pamphlets and books were quickly produced that told the horrors in Ireland with subtle and understated titles . . . To a hungry readership these publications recorded the horrible murders, the rape of women, and the killing of babies. By August 1642 The English parliament was recording that there had been 154,000 deaths in the rebellion, and by 1648 a book recorded the number at 200,000. The facts didn't matter, this was all anti-Irish propaganda aimed at instilling and reflecting anti-Catholic hatred in the minds of the English."

Mr. Cronin obviously [?] his perspective that of the Irish Catholic.

From the wiki entry: "The number of planters [Protestant settlers] killed in the early months of the uprising is the subject of debate.  Early English Parliamentarian pamphlets claimed that over 200,000 settlers had lost their lives. In fact, recent research has suggested that the number is far more modest, in the region of 4,000 or so killed, though many thousands were expelled from their homes. It is estimated that up to 12,000 Protestants may have lost their lives in total, the majority dying of cold or disease after being expelled from their homes in the depths of winter."

The entire episode of the 1641 Rebellion and the Ulster Massacres must be taken within the context of the Thirty Years War? Emotions cloud reason, etc.

coolbert.