A grisly memento from the grave of Oliver Cromwell, the most-hated name in Irish history, has come to light and will be sold at auction in London on Tuesday.
“An exquisitely engraved brass plate found resting on Oliver Cromwell’s chest when his body was exhumed in 1661”, is the bizarre star attraction among items of historical memorabilia going under the hammer at Sotheby’s. The auctioneers have valued the “unique coffin plate” at up to £12,000 (€15,200).
Although Cromwell had strong Republican sympathies – he overthrew the monarchy in mid-17th century England – he is still, over 350 years after his death, reviled in Ireland. A farmer and Puritanical Protestant, his New Model Army took power in England's civil war in 1649 and executed King Charles I. Cromwell was appointed Lord Protector and set about quelling dissent in Ireland with infamous brutality, most notably at Drogheda and Wexford.
To Hell or to
Connacht He suppressed Catholicism, sanctioned a massive confiscation of land and devised a policy ordering the Irish to go “To Hell or to
Connacht". He left a legacy so poisonous that, as recently as 1997, then taoiseach Bertie Ahern, upon entering a meeting room in London where a portrait of Cromwell was hanging, expressed his discomfiture at the sight of "that murdering bastard", to the bemusement of British officials.
Cromwell, whose statue is outside the Palace of Westminster, is still widely admired in England and came 10th in a 2002 BBC Poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.
Cromwell died of natural causes in 1658, and was buried with all the pomp and circumstance of a head of state. But three years later, following the restoration of the monarchy, the new king, Charles II decreed that the “traitor” Cromwell be exhumed for “posthumous execution”.
Sotheby's said the "coffin plate" had been "found in a leaden canister, lying on the breast of the corpse". Ireland was literally close to Cromwell's heart in death as in life: the engraved Latin inscription on the brass plate refers to his role as Protector of Hibernia (Ireland) and records his dates of birth and death.
The plate was retrieved and retained by one of the officials present, passed down through generations and is now being sold by the private owners.
Following the exhumation, Cromwell’s body was hanged, drawn and quartered. His severed head was displayed on a pole in London but was reputedly salvaged and surfaced in 1960, when it was interred beneath a chapel in Cambridge.
