Oliver Cromwell

Publication Instance Details #3241

Publication Overview

Translation	Is Multilingual	Explicit Irish Context?	Ekphrasis	Has Paratext?	Reference to News, Media or Technology
No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

Details

Human Rights Issues	HR & Colonisation/Colonial Legacies Other
Irish Context	Colonization and Colonial Legacy (Ireland)
Languages	English
Genre	Short Lyric
Medium	Print Collection
Paratext Text	1650-1659 (Addressed to the Liberal Members who "went back" on their previous vote and rejected the grant for his statue.)
Notes	The poem directly addresses the opposition to a statue of Oliver Cromwell which immediately resulted in members of the British public questioning the decision due to the divided opinions. The proposal ended in a parliamentary debate and vote, in which the British Government narrowly avoided defeat when the Unionists sided with them while the majority of the Conservatives and the Irish National Party voted against the measure because of Cromwell's history in Ireland. The decision was condemned by newspapers in Ireland. Following further opposition from the Irish National Party, the proposal was withdrawn on 17 July 1895. Herbert Gladstone, First Commissioner of Works, approved the statue with the funding coming from an anonymous private donor. In 1899 his successor Aretas Akers-Douglas confirmed the statue's proposed location as the sunken garden next to Westminster Hall. The poem explicitly criticizes the denying of rights.