Historical Perspective | How lies about Irish barbarism in 1641 paved way for Cromwells atrocities | World news | guardian.co.uk

Smashing piece on the 1641 Depositions, which John Dorney wrote about here:

Hearsay evidence and bible-inspired testimony inflamed popular fears about the “barbaric” Catholic Irish after the 1641 Rebellion, according to linguistic analysis of the worlds first war crimes investigation.

A two-day academic conference 18-19 February will expose unsubstantiated propaganda within the 31 handwritten volumes of witness statements that provided Oliver Cromwell with justification for his subsequent slaughter of defeated garrisons at Drogheda and Wexford.

Described as a prototype “dodgy dossier” featuring allegations of cannibalism, the 17th-century accounts of atrocities committed against Protestant settlers have been put online for the first time.

via How lies about Irish barbarism in 1641 paved way for Cromwells atrocities | World news | guardian.co.uk.

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