BLOG | Mysite

Wilde Irishe

Wilde Irishe

Oct 6, 202221 min read

The Armour of Derricke’s Chieftain

The Irish chieftain pictured in John Derricke’s Image of Ireland (1581) wears a helmet and armour that have never been satisfactorily...

0 comments

Sciath and Starga: 16th Century Gaelic Irish Shields

Wilde Irishe

Feb 8, 20228 min read

Sciath and Starga: 16th Century Gaelic Irish Shields

Gaelic Irish shields in the 16th century seem to have been of two distinct varieties. The general word for shield, sciath, was originally...

0 comments

Irish Ring Pommel Sword: New Insight into Use

Wilde Irishe

Aug 20, 202112 min read

Irish Ring Pommel Sword: New Insight into Use

The 2014 discovery of a new example of a sixteenth century Irish ring pommel sword has provided fresh insights into this weapon.

2 comments

The Saffron Shirt, Part 1: Saffron and Silk, Urine and Grease

Wilde Irishe

Apr 30, 202142 min read

The Saffron Shirt, Part 1: Saffron and Silk, Urine and Grease

The Irish saffron shirt (léine croich) and mantle followed a similar trajectory to that of their lineal descendant, Highland dress. ...

0 comments

Wilde Irishe

Mar 3, 202124 min read

Donnell O’Hagan’s Company of Shot: 1593

This brief note focusses on details of the organisation, equipment, clothing and training of a typical company of ‘shott’ in the service...

0 comments

Wright’s Chieftains: A Tale of Two Paintings

Wilde Irishe

Feb 2, 202130 min read

Wright’s Chieftains: A Tale of Two Paintings

Two of the most important visual documents of traditional Gaelic dress have been somewhat overlooked, their full value obscured by a...

3 comments

Wilde Irishe

Dec 12, 202010 min read

A Fight With O'Rourke: 1589

This account of the government’s final engagement with Brian na Múrtha O’Rourke provides a vivid picture of the nature of Elizabethan...

1 comment

Wilde Irishe

Sep 16, 202012 min read

Irish Tower Houses: a Spotter’s Guide

Rough men-at-arms, cross-gartered to the knees Or shod in iron, climbed the narrow stairs

0 comments

O’Donnell’s Kern—A Sixteenth-Century Campfire Tale

Wilde Irishe

Aug 24, 202012 min read

O’Donnell’s Kern—A Sixteenth-Century Campfire Tale

So there you have the Circuit of Manannán mac Lir of the tuatha dé danann, who used to be going round Ireland.

0 comments

Wilde Irishe

Aug 4, 20205 min read

A Fault as Light as Wind: Braigetóiri?

“Dow knowest an Irishman cannot abide a fart.”

3 comments

Lucht Tighe—Service Kindreds of Irish Chieftains

Wilde Irishe

Jul 6, 20206 min read

Lucht Tighe—Service Kindreds of Irish Chieftains

The courts of Gaelic regional lords were served by hereditary service kindreds of long standing.

3 comments

Leinster Clandonnells; the Queen Majestie’s Galloglass

Wilde Irishe

May 22, 202011 min read

Leinster Clandonnells; the Queen Majestie’s Galloglass

An examination of the lineage, organisation, land holdings, and campaigns of the government galloglass.

0 comments

Wilde Irishe

Apr 23, 20208 min read

Sword Dance of the Irish Kern

The kern in Elizabethan Ireland were said to have a sword dance peculiar to them. What can we learn of its nature?

1 comment

Irish Domestics: Household of an Irish Chief

Wilde Irishe

Apr 11, 202010 min read

Irish Domestics: Household of an Irish Chief

Everything in common but the bed.

0 comments

Horseboys: Irish Lackeys, Irish Footmanship—Part 2

Wilde Irishe

Mar 28, 20207 min read

Horseboys: Irish Lackeys, Irish Footmanship—Part 2

“A Teague! A Teague! Well run, Irish!”

0 comments

Horseboys: Irish Lackeys, Irish Footmanship

Wilde Irishe

Mar 23, 20204 min read

Horseboys: Irish Lackeys, Irish Footmanship

for so they call their horse-keepers be they never so old knaves

0 comments

Discoveries at Tullyhogue: O’Neill Inauguration Site & Native Settlement

Wilde Irishe

Feb 20, 20205 min read

Discoveries at Tullyhogue: O’Neill Inauguration Site & Native Settlement

"The traitor is gone to the stone to receive that name."

0 comments

A Rising-Out of MacSweeneys armed “According to the Usage of the Country.”

Wilde Irishe

Feb 14, 20206 min read

A Rising-Out of MacSweeneys armed “According to the Usage of the Country.”

And it was then that a levy of galloglasses was made on Clann Suibhne, and this is how the levy was made.

1 comment

Galloglass vs. Redshank: Don’t Fight Over Spilt Milk.

Wilde Irishe

Feb 7, 20203 min read

Galloglass vs. Redshank: Don’t Fight Over Spilt Milk.

"Fight it out in the fair fields."

1 comment

A John Derricke Drawing: Hidden in Plain Sight?

Wilde Irishe

Jan 24, 20204 min read

A John Derricke Drawing: Hidden in Plain Sight?

It has been regretted that we do not have Derricke’s presumed original drawings, as they would have greater immediacy.

0 comments