The Siege of Drogheda took place on 3??1 September; 1649; at the outset of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. The coastal town of Drogheda was held by the Irish Catholic Confederation and English Royalists under the command of Sir Arthur Aston when it was besieged by Parliamentarian forces under Oliver Cromwell. Drogheda was the first major event in the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland; although it took place during the later years of the Eleven Years??War (also known as the Irish Confederate War; 1641-1652); the turbulent period of Irish history which began with conflict between the native Irish Catholics and the English/Scottish Protestant Settlers in the 1641 Rebellion.