Editing Drogheda Massacre (section)

{{Act of Villainy|crimes=[[War crimes]]<br>Mass [[murder]]<br>Destruction of property<br>[[Arson]]<br>[[Church burning]]<br>Mutilation<br>[[Genocide]]|perpetrator=[[Oliver Cromwell]]|date=3-11 September 1649|location=Drogheda, County Louth|motive=Take the town and kill all those who refused to surrender (Succeeded)|name=Drogheda Massacre|image=Massacre at Drogheda.jpeg}}{{Quote|I am persuaded that this is a righteous judgement of God on these barbarous wretches, who have imbrued their hands with so much innocent blood; and that it will tend to prevent the effusion of blood for the future, which are satisfactory grounds for such actions which cannot otherwise but work remorse and regret.|[[Oliver Cromwell]] justifying his actions at Drogheda, in a letter to the Speaker of the House of Commons.}}

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.