Henry Ireton

Henry Ireton , 1611-51, English parliamentary general; son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell. He held various commands in the parliamentary army during the first civil war (see English civil war ) and in 1646 married Cromwell's daughter Bridget. A conservative reformer and advocate of limited monarchy, he opposed the radical constitutional demands of the Levelers and drafted the peace settlement known as the Heads of the Proposals, presented to the king by the army in 1647. In 1648 he took the part of the army against Parliament, became a republican, and signed (1649) the death warrant of Charles I. Appointed (1650) lord deputy of Ireland, he sternly carried out Cromwell's policy of dispossessing the Irish and settling Englishmen there.

Ireton, Henry (1611–51), lord deputy and commander of the New Model Army after his father‐in‐law Oliver Cromwell left Ireland in May 1650. Ireton continued the conquest, taking control, in quick succession, of Carlow, Waterford, and Duncannon fort (which commanded the sea approach to Waterford). His greatest success was capturing Limerick. After an abortive two‐month siege in 1650. Ireton took outlying forts the following year and commenced a naval blockade and military encirclement to starve the city into submission. He played on Limerick's peace and war factions until a bombardment targeted on a weak section of the walls eventually brought submission in October. A military tribunal ignored Ireton's wishes by refusing to execute Hugh Dubh O'Neill and the other defiant leaders. Ireton had also gained a reputation for cheap and speedy justice in his other role as provincial president of Munster. He died in Limerick, of the plague raging within the city, within a month of having captured it.

Hiram Morgan