Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
garrison towns resisted after that. Cromwell's merciless efficiency brought almost
the entire island under English control in less than a year.
Catholic landowners were forced to give up their land or face execution...a deal
with the devil known as “to hell or to Connaught.” About 11 million acres of pro-
ductive land was taken from Catholic landowners and handed over to Cromwell's
soldiers.In“exchange,”theseCatholicsgotunfertilegroundwestoftheRiverShan-
non. This forced mass migration essentially destroyed Ireland's Catholic landown-
ing class. (In 1641, Catholics owned 59 percent of Ireland—by 1714 they owned
7
percent.) Some Catholics were allowed to stay on as tenants, providing labor for
their new English masters.
Upon Cromwell's death in 1658, his less-dynamic son took over, and the English
began to miss their monarchy. In 1660, Charles I's son, Charles II, was invited back
from exile in France and the monarchy was restored. Soon after, Cromwell's body
was dug up, hung, and beheaded—his head was stuck on a pike and displayed in
front of London's Parliament for 20 years (curiously, a heroic statue of him stands
there today). But most of Ireland's Catholics never regained their land, and for the
next two centuries Ireland continued its slow downward cultural spiral at the hands
of English government.
Oliver Cromwell passed through here to secure the English claim to this area (see “The
Curse of Cromwell” sidebar). He considered his two options, and declared he'd take stra-
tegic Waterford “by Hook or by Crooke.” Hook is the long peninsula with the lighthouse.
Crooke is a little village on the other side, just south of Passage East.
There's a decent cafeteria and a shop with fliers explaining other sights on the penin-
sula. Kids-at-heart can't resist climbing out on the rugged rocky tip of the windy Hook
Head.
▲
Kennedy Homestead
Patrick Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy's great-grandfather, left Ireland in 1858.
Distant relatives have turned his property into a little museum/shrine for Kennedy pil-
grims. Physically, it's not much: A barn and a wing of the modern house survive from
1858. JFK dropped in by helicopter in June 1963, a few months before he was assassin-
ated. While it's just a private home, anyone interested in the Kennedys will find it worth
driving the long narrow lane to see. After a refurbishment, the homestead is scheduled to
reopen in late 2013; call ahead to reconfirm prices and hours.
