[A. J. Raffles]

No need to damn him for that. I have it on good authority that the Irish Question was already an issue long before Cromwell. I quote:

Originally posted by 1066 And All That
John: An Awful King
When John came to the throne he lost his temper and flung himself to the floor, foaming at the mouth and biting the rushes. He was thus a Bad King. Indeed, he had begun badly as a Bad Prince, having attempted to answer the Irish Question* by pulling the beards of the aged Irish chiefs, which was a Bad Thing and the wrong answer.
*N.B. - The Irish Question at this time consisted of:
(1) Some Norman Barons, who lived in a Pail (near Dublin),
(2) The natives and Irish Chieftains, who were beyond the Pail, living in bogs, beards, etc.