Wilde Irishe
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...
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Wilde Irishe
- Feb 8, 2022
- 8 min
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...
Wilde Irishe
- Aug 20, 2021
- 12 min
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.
Wilde Irishe
- Apr 30, 2021
- 42 min
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. ...
Wilde Irishe
- Mar 3, 2021
- 24 min
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...
Wilde Irishe
- Feb 2, 2021
- 30 min
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...
Wilde Irishe
- Dec 12, 2020
- 10 min
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...
Wilde Irishe
- Sep 16, 2020
- 12 min
Irish Tower Houses: a Spotter’s Guide
Rough men-at-arms, cross-gartered to the knees
Or shod in iron, climbed the narrow stairs
Wilde Irishe
- Aug 24, 2020
- 12 min
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.
Wilde Irishe
- Aug 4, 2020
- 5 min
A Fault as Light as Wind: Braigetóiri?
“Dow knowest an Irishman cannot abide a fart.”
Wilde Irishe
- Jul 6, 2020
- 6 min
Lucht Tighe—Service Kindreds of Irish Chieftains
The courts of Gaelic regional lords were served by hereditary service kindreds of long standing.
Wilde Irishe
- May 22, 2020
- 11 min
Leinster Clandonnells; the Queen Majestie’s Galloglass
An examination of the lineage, organisation, land holdings, and campaigns of the government galloglass.
Wilde Irishe
- Apr 23, 2020
- 8 min
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?
Wilde Irishe
- Apr 11, 2020
- 10 min
Irish Domestics: Household of an Irish Chief
Everything in common but the bed.
Wilde Irishe
- Mar 28, 2020
- 7 min
Horseboys: Irish Lackeys, Irish Footmanship—Part 2
“A Teague! A Teague! Well run, Irish!”
Wilde Irishe
- Mar 23, 2020
- 4 min
Horseboys: Irish Lackeys, Irish Footmanship
for so they call their horse-keepers be they never so old knaves
Wilde Irishe
- Feb 20, 2020
- 5 min
Discoveries at Tullyhogue: O’Neill Inauguration Site & Native Settlement
"The traitor is gone to the stone to receive that name."
Wilde Irishe
- Feb 14, 2020
- 6 min
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.
Wilde Irishe
- Feb 7, 2020
- 3 min
Galloglass vs. Redshank: Don’t Fight Over Spilt Milk.
"Fight it out in the fair fields."
Wilde Irishe
- Jan 24, 2020
- 4 min
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.
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