To this day, Oliver Cromwell remains one of the most reviled figures in Irish history.

Now, to those unfamiliar with our past, this must seem a little strange.

Usually, as time passes, intense attitudes towards historical figures tend to mellow somewhat.

Changas Khan is a good example of this.

People often talk about his achievements, even though he ranks among the worst people

in history in terms of causing misery, death, and destruction.

However, Cromwell appears to be defying this trend in Ireland at least.

He died over 350 years ago, and there's no sign of attitudes towards Cromwell, changing.

Now, in this podcast, I explore Oliver Cromwell and his legacy in Ireland

by visiting the runes of Don Hill Castle outside Waterford.

Today, it's a foreign ruin as you're about to hear,

but it is somewhere I think that goes a long way to explaining why Cromwell is so reviled in this country.

Now, before we get going, I'm going to introduce myself.

My name is Finn Dwyer, and this is the Irish History Podcast.

As you're heard at the top of the show, I've just launched a new tour,

and I want to share a little bit more about it with you, because you're going to love the tour.

It takes you through some of the most entrawling chapters in Irish history,

in the very streets where they took place.

We'll start back at the 10th century looking at the Vikings who founded Waterford.

Then we follow the story through the Normans, Cromwell himself,

whose armies besieged to Waterford on two occasions.

Then the story continues through the centuries,

...