In what would be the final months of the Irish resistance against the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, the Irish brigades were at a breaking point. Since Oliver Cromwell landed in Dublin with an invading force in August 1649, the Irish forces (at first centralized, then fractured into autonomous brigades) relied on support from local populations. But by the end of 1651, the brigades were desperately short of supplies and faced the prospect of surrender.