As a youth from the south, you, enchantress, folded, the steel of the blade is my trusty knife, you cling to me like a wife.
("Steel-friend". Miredah O'Daley, nicknamed the Scotsman (d. C. 1224))
If there is any country in Europe whose past is shrouded in mystery to a greater extent than others, it will undoubtedly be Ireland - the last island on the edge of an inhabited land in antiquity. The Romans did not go there, but people already lived there during their rule over England. According to the medieval Christian "Book of the Conquest of Ireland", it was conquered by the Spanish Celts who sailed from Galicia, who received the name Milesians (from the legendary Spanish Mile). The "History of the Britons" (IX century) also mentions them and reports that this Mil is the father of the Irish Gauls. There is no archaeological confirmation of this Spanish invasion in Ireland, but this legend is still alive today.
Irish warriors fight the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf (23 April 1014). Rice. Angus McBride.
Well, according to modern science, 84% of Irish men have a genetic marker of haplogroup R1b, although the first settlers who arrived on the island around 4350 BC. e., had a marker of the haplogroup "G". Not then about 2,500 years ago, people with this group were practically exterminated, so that today it is found in only 1% of Irish men. And R1b is widely present in northern Spain and also in southwestern France.
On the other hand, this location of Ireland was beneficial for her. It was not so easy for the conquerors to get there. That is why, when in the V century. Christianity spread on the island, it became a kind of "sanctuary of peace and quiet", which contributed to the flourishing of early Christian culture and the center of Western scholarship. The main role on the island was played by clans led by their leaders, which was caused by the poverty of resources, which did not allow too many non-working parasites in society. The situation became more complicated only in the 10th century, when the Scandinavian Vikings began to make their raids on Ireland. However, in 1014 the Irish king Brian Bohr managed to defeat them at the Battle of Clontarf. However, he himself died and a series of bloody feuds began on the island. Interestingly, until the Anglo-Norman invasion, Ireland was divided into five kingdoms, and a single state in it did not work out. When, after 1175, British rule was finally established in Ireland (albeit not everywhere), the Irish, taking advantage of different cases - either the victories of Robert the Bruce, or the plague epidemic of 1348, which decimated all the English in the cities, tried several times to free themselves from it, but they did not succeed at that time. By the way, it is interesting that, although Ireland is smaller than England, more than 100 castles are still preserved on its lands (in England there are only 40 of them), and since there is a castle, then, of course, the castle had both a suzerain and warriors who had to protect him.
The Kurrach is a sailing boat of the ancient Irish and Picts with leather upholstery. It is believed that it was on such a boat that St. Brendan made his voyage to Iceland, the Faroe Islands and America. Rice. Wayne Reynolds.
For many centuries, the basis of the Irish armed formations, for natural reasons, were fairly lightly armed infantrymen who had in their arsenal a sword, a long dagger, a bow and arrow and a set of throwing darts. The reason for such a scarce, in principle, armament was that the main type of intra-clan "wars" were raids with the aim of stealing cattle.
An ancient Irishman during a raid on the coast of Britain, V century. Such raids for the sake of prey and demonstration of their youth were in the custom among many peoples. Rice. Richard Hook.
At the same time, the Gaelic Irish began to learn a lot from the Scandinavians and widely use battle axes on long shafts. The English historian Ian Heath, for example, reports that the Irish and their axes (previously adopted under Scandinavian influence) became so inseparable that they were worn everywhere, even in peacetime. Girald Kambrensky, Topographies of Ireland (circa 1188), wrote that the ax was held in only one hand, “stretching the thumb along the handle to direct the blow”; and adds that neither the helmet nor the chain mail would have protected from being hit by this weapon. Although one Anglo-Norman knight managed to escape from the Irish ambush, although his horse received three blows with such an ax, and he himself - two in his shield. Other weapons of common warriors, called kerns, were a short spear and two darts. The sling was also used, because something, and there were enough stones in Ireland even in abundance. Long daggers are more common in sources than swords, and shields are rarely mentioned. Short, light darts could not penetrate armor and more often wounded rather than killed, moreover, the Irish did not use a bow at first, so their "firepower" was limited. Nevertheless, in the "Conquest of Ireland" from 1189, the same Girald notes that after the Anglo-Norman invasion, the Irish "… gradually became skillful and knowledgeable in the use of arrows." Although the Irish archers were first mentioned in the Annals of Ulster, in 1243. However, oddly enough, the Irish bow was not a Welsh long bow, but a short weapon, which in the XIII century. in England it was called "half-bow". One of these bows, made of yew, about 35 inches long and with a slightly off-center handle, was found at Desmond Castle in the late 19th century. It is known that such bows were used by Irish soldiers even in the 17th century. By the way, where the Vikings settled, for example, in eastern Ireland, the bow was used more widely.
Viking weapons at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin.
According to the description in Girald's Topography of Ireland, the clothes of the Irish warrior consisted of soft shoes, a linen tunic, tight-fitting woolen pants (in winter, in summer they walked with bare feet) and a caftan, often quilted, with a tight-fitting hood. A very important part of the wardrobe was a cloak - a bret, which spoke of the status of its owner. Well, for the poor, it was often made of a patchwork quilt.
The clothing was mostly black (apparently, most Irish sheep at this time were black). However, we know from earlier sources that the Irish liked bright colors and there is no reason to believe that their tastes changed afterwards. Girald's illustrations show clothing mostly in light shades of green, brown, red and gray, sometimes with striped fabrics.
Image of Galloglus warriors on the side of Felim O'Connor's sarcophagus (Roscommon Abbey, Ireland)
Even in 1260, they often went into battle wearing a single shirt, called the lane in Gaelic, and possibly having a hood. On the other hand, a 1300 poem dedicated to the King of Connaught Aed O'Conor (1293-1309) describes his outfit, which included a helmet, aketon (kotun) and an armored corset (louirech), under which he had exactly was wearing a shirt with a hood. On his feet he had golden spurs, and from weapons - a sword, a spear and a shield (sgiaf) of white color, decorated with "dragons and golden branches." That is, his armament was already quite chivalrous.
Warrior galloglas. Rice. Angus McBride
Now let's pay attention to one important and interesting circumstance. Ireland, like Norway and Sweden, was poor in food resources. It was good to breed sheep that gave wool, but you need to imagine how much hay they needed to stock up for the winter, and this is on the local stony pastures. No wonder it was in Ireland that the breed of horses of the Connemara-pony, undersized, shaggy, unpretentious, was bred. They were good horses for the household and for riding, but they were completely unsuitable as knightly horses.
Irish horseman. Miniature from the manuscript "Book of de Burgo" ("History and genealogy of the surname de Burgo"), although it was written in the XVI century. and it seems that it is not directly related to the time frame of this topic. But looking at his armor, one no longer has to doubt their archaism. (Trinity College Library, Dublin)
As a result, all this led to … mass emigration, first of the Scandinavians, and then of the Gaelic Irish, and in the first and second cases, in search of happiness, male warriors left home, becoming either Vikings or as mercenaries, who were called galloglas (Gaelic. Gallóglach, lit. "foreign warrior"). They served in the armies of Irish landlords from the Gaelic clans of the Western Isles and the Scottish Highlands and in the 13th-17th centuries they represented the most real elite. Over time, however, they mingled with the Norse settlers in both Ireland and Scotland, as well as the Picts, and now the Irish themselves called them Gall Gaeil (lit. "foreign Gaels").
The Connemara ponies were ideal for light cavalry riders who fought in the mountainous regions of Ireland.
They are first mentioned in Irish chronicles dating back to 1259, when the King of Connaught received 160 Scottish soldiers as a dowry from the daughter of the King of Hybrids. In exchange for military service, the Gallohls received land and settled in the possessions of the Irish leaders, where they were given the right to feed themselves at the expense of the local population. In terms of their armament, the Gallohls belonged to the heavily armed infantry. Their main weapon was a massive two-handed ax, which was clearly of Scandinavian origin, as well as a two-handed claymore sword and sometimes a spear. As a rule, they wore chain mail, worn over soft quilted gambizons, and iron helmets of the simplest styles. Galloglas went into battle accompanied by two youths who served as his assistants: one carrying javelins, while the other had a supply of provisions. But they also had spears and bows and also in some cases could participate in battle. It is noted that due to their heavy weaponry and, in particular, long-skirted chain mail, the Gallohl were not as mobile as the riders on horseback riding the Connemara ponies and the Irish lightly armed Kern warriors. But they usually fought well on the defensive. Interestingly, as mercenaries, they often settled on the land and then enjoyed the same rights as the native Irish.
Guerrilla tactics proved to be the most effective form of defense against attacks by the Normans and the Irish, and here the traditional Irish weapons such as darts and sling, and later the bow, were very effective. "Miniature from the manuscript" Roman about Alexander ", 1250 Abbey of St. Alban, England. (Cambridge University Library)
At the end of the 13th century, the local Norman-Irish equestrian elite fell into decay, since they simply had no one to fight on the island. Later, a unique tactic was developed here, based on the interaction of light cavalry, supported by archers or dart throwers - cores. And they, in turn, were supported by the elite gallohlasy infantry, who perfectly wielded their two-handed axes, as well as two-handed swords. The latter indicates that Scottish military influence continued to play an important role in Ireland both at the beginning of the 14th century and afterwards. By the way, this is indicated by the works of Dürer. Well, the famous Irish hobelar horsemen, who belonged to the light cavalry, in the XIV century served in Scotland and England and, finally, then even in France, which best of all speaks of their effectiveness.
Irish mercenaries 1521 Drawing by Albrecht Durer. Obviously, despite the fact that between 1350 and 1521. the period is quite considerable, the appearance of the Irish warriors during this time practically did not change at all.
With regard to the national characteristics of Irish weapons, it should be attributed only … the unusual and nowhere else found on the pommel of the sword hilt. It had the shape of a ring through which you could see its shank, flattened on the outer rim of this ring. The crosshairs were also unusual and had horizontal S-shaped blades flattened at the ends in the form of blades. The length of such swords was 80 cm, however, both two-handed swords and bastard swords are known.
Modern reconstruction of a typical Irish sword.
References:
1. Oakeshott, R. E. The Sword in the Age of Chivalry, London, revised edn., London etc., 1981.
2. Dufty, A. R. and Borg, A. European Swords and Daggers in the Tower of London, London, 1974.
3. Clements, J. Medieval Swordsmanship. Illustrated Methods and Techniques. USA. Paladin Press, 1998.
4. Nicolle, D. Arms and Armor of the Crusading Era, 1050-1350. UK. L.: Greenhill Books. Vol.1.
5. Braniff, S. A. Galloglass 1250-1600. Gaelic Mercenary Warrior. Oxford, Osprey Publishing (WARRIOR 143), 2010.
6. Gravett, K., Nicole, D. Normans. Knights and conquerors (Translated from English A. Kolin) M.: Eksmo, 2007.
7. Gravett, K. Knights: A History of English Chivalry 1200-1600 / Christopher Gravett (Translated from English by A. Colin). M.: Eksmo, 2010.
8. Liblé, Thomas. Sword. Great illustrated encyclopedia. / per. from German / M.: Omega, 2011.
