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Gaelic Weapons

1. Thrown stones
2. The Strung Stone or Champion’s Handstone
3. The Sling
4. The Staff-Sling or Crann Tabail
5. The Black knife or Sgian Dubh
6. Gaelic Long Knife or Scian Fada
7. Gaelic Ring Pommel Sword and Leaf-Bladed Swords
8. Scots Broadsword and Targe
9. Staff
10. Sparth Axe
11. Claymore or Claíomh Mór
12. Throwing Darts
13. Spears
14. The Gae Bolg or Gáe Bulg
15. Throwing Discs or the Ocharcless
16. Kern Armour

Just as Asian martial arts have their tonfas, shurikens and nunchucks, so too did the Irish have an impressive array of unique weapons, or weapons used in a unique manner.

Please note: these sections consist of opinion pieces not intended to be construed as health, sporting, legal or medical advice or directions. Any actions undertaken are done so entirely at the risk of the individual in question, this publication and its authors take no responsibility for any injuries incurred.

Safety

When trying out armed martial arts, your safety and the safety of the people you train with is paramount. This means, in formal settings like clubs, getting insurance and wearing protective gear.

Historical European Martial Arts, or HEMA, have been surging in popularity for the last twenty or so years. These are revivals of ancient European sword and other skills, often using blunted metal weapons, and clubs have been formed to practise these lost skills.

Please be aware that these clubs and associations are entirely unregulated and may be erratic, so you’re probably best advised to start privately with some of your own friends.

• When practising any kind of armed martial art, the main areas to be protected are, in order of importance
• Throat: for this you will need a helmet with an armoured “bib” or gorget. Standalone gorgets can be purchased separately.
• Head: perhaps the best head protection on the market as of this writing is the Wukusi Cobra Fencing Mask. When combined with a gel cap, it offers superior impact absorption and face protection. Normal fencing masks, hurling helmets, or any other kind of protective headgear is inadequate and may result in potentially serious head injuries.
• Groin: a standard protective cup should do here.
• Hands: hand injuries can be debilitating, interfering with the ability to work, drive, and complete everyday tasks. Hard shell gloves are the only realistic option to keep your hands reasonably safe—Sparring Glove Infinity Gloves are the usually-accepted standard.
• Joints: Various types of hard joint protective gear can be found in good HEMA retailers.
• Other areas: Fencing jackets and plastrons, or hard shell armour put under a jacket, as well as leg, forearm and shin guards, will protect the rest of a fencer’s body.

Except for the helmet and gloves, most of this protective gear can be purchased in low-key configurations to fit under period clothing, which adds to the experience for some. This means protective gear that will fit unobtrusively beneath costume trousers and shirts.

The Armoury of Legend

These are not the only weapons widely and historically used by Gaelic warriors; the sabre, smallsword and pike were their main early modern arms, but the following are worthy of mention for the important place they hold in Irish tradition and legend.

More information about early modern Irish weapons and martial culture can be found in the excellent “Irish Swordsmanship: Fencing and Dueling in Eighteenth Century Ireland” by Ben MIller.

Thrown stones

It may seem like the simplest of skills, but the Irish had a reputation for being formidable stone-throwers. Even well into the age of gunpowder, the English were wary and spoke highly of the talents of Gaelic stone casters.

Going back to the bronze age, In the record of the battle of the Ford of Comar, Westmeath, the use of this instrument is so described...

“There came not a man of Lohar's people without a broad green [bronze] spear, nor without a dazzling shield, nor without a Liagh-lamha-laich (a champion's hand stone), stowed away in the hollow cavity of his shield....

And Lohar carried his stone like each of his men; and seeing the monarch his father standing in the ford with Ceat, son of Magach, at one side, and Connall Cearnach at the other, to guard him, he grasped his battle-stone quickly and dexterously, and threw it with all his strength, and with unerring aim, at the king his father; and the massive stone passed with a swift rotatory motion towards the king, and despite the efforts of his two brave guardians, it struck him on the breast, and laid him prostrate in the ford.

The king, however, recovered from the shock, arose, and placing his foot upon the formidable stone, pressed it into the earth, where it remains to this day, with a third part of it over ground, and the print of the king's foot visible upon it.”

As a boy Cú Chulainn defended his fortress with hand-stones:

"Twenty-seven men came to us from the Isles of Faiche. While we were suffering the debility they climbed over into our backcourt. The women in the fort cried out in warning. The boys who were in the playing-field came on hearing the cries, but when they saw the dark gloomy men, they all fled except Cú Chulainn alone. He cast hand-stones at them and belaboured them with his hurley. He killed nine of them but they dealt him fifty wounds, and then they went off."

The Irish word for throwing stones or sods of turf by hand is croosting, from the Gaelic crústa, meaning a missile or a clod, and competitive stone-throwing continued in the Aran Islands and Corofin, County Clare until at least the 1970s, with a revival in the 2000s.

There are stories telling about how groups of Irish people faced down or defeated English gunmen by the threat of stoning, such as when a cask of rum washed up in Connemara and the police tried to seize it from the locals:

“'Who was bold enough to open the barrel and steal His Majesty's rum?' the red-haired Sergeant shouted, running to the puncheon and slicing a chip from the stave. 'We have taken possession in the name of the Crown.'

'Now, what did ye come here for?' demanded the Rover, stepping right up to the peelers

Mickileen Liam reached for the first stone at hand. The villagers caught the signal and prepared for a fight.

The peelers readied their guns and turned on the islanders, who stood firm with faces aglow, their pockets full of granite, ready for the fray

Luke walked over to the barrel, raised his arm in the air and said smilingly 'Wet your lips, friends, and pay no heed to those tight black pants.’ ”

And they got the rum too!  In the Irish folklore collection it is written:

“Stone-throwing was a common game in Ireland long ago. It was generally done at a cross-road or in a field. The best stone thrower who was in Lisalway was James [Dirken]. He is still living in Lisalway.

They used to be stone-throwing in a field called "Bacle a' Bhocave". They used to throw a heap of stone about 30 yards.”

So although it might be the simplest of martial arts, it would not do to underestimate the value and power of a skilled stone-thrower! The Romans required their soldiers to be skilled in bare-hand throwing of stones for a reason.

It is something that can be practised almost anywhere, but of course do be careful.

The Strung Stone or Champion’s Handstone

A most curious thing was recently discovered in an old manuscript detailing various archaeological finds in Ireland.

The book in question was a marvellous 1903 publication called Wakeman's Handbook of Irish Antiquities, copied from an earlier edition, and in a section of the book was discovered the following written about Irish stone axes – also known as stone celts – and which seemed to explain much:

"It is most likely that some remains of this class were used as missiles. We read of a missile weapon called the Lia Lamha Laich, i.e. a ‘Champion’s handstone,’ which was carried ready for use in the hollow of the shield.

It is described by early writers in a manner which shows that it was attached to a line of some kind, and was recoverable after each throw. O’Curry suggests that missiles of this kind were simply our stone celts. There can be little doubt of the correctness of his opinion.

In the Academy collection are three stones of that description, which at their narrow end exhibit perforations well adapted for the attachment of a string or line. The largest of these stones is slightly over 3½ inches in length.

Each side is crossed by an array of scorings, admirably suited for the purpose of affording a firm grip to a champion desirous of hurling the stone with force. Around the aperture are two engraved circles. The other perforated celts are sharp and well formed, but plain. Each would prove a formidable missile when cast by a trained hand."

It could well have been used in a similar manner to the Asian “meteor hammer”, a heavy weight attached to a cord slung around the body until it was released towards a target at high speed.

Its use may have also borne much resemblance to the Scots-Gaelic sport of stone-putting, the Clach Neart or Stone of Strength, the stones for which weighed about ten or twelve kilos, although even small stones of less than two hundred grams have a formidable presence whipped at the end of a cord.

Further, hammer-throwing in the Scottish Highland games can be traced back thousands of years to the Tailteann Games in Ireland, strengthening the connection. These games included an event where a competitor lifted a chariot wheel by its axle and threw it as far as they could. This was replaced by a boulder, then perhaps a boulder with a cord through it where it saw use in war (just as the atlatl-thrown spear was replace by the cord-thrown spear in Ireland), and then a heavy rock with a wooden handle in the Games.

It would have made a brutal weapon, weighing as much as seven kilos and with a throwing distance of over eighty meters, and certainly offered military advantages – a flight of a few hundred of those landing on your army would have had quite a demoralising effect!.

These corded stones could also have been used as flails. This would have been devastating in battle, allowing the stone to be swung over the tops of shields or around the sides of them, catching enemies on all angles of their heads without warning, being very difficulty to parry, and serving a similar purpose to medieval warhammers or maces.

The Sling

Despite being one of the simplest weapons, the sling—teilm or taball as Gaeilge—is one of the most formidable. Consisting of two pieces of cord, sometimes braided, with either a leather pouch or more woven cordage for a pouch between them, it was light and versatile, although it does take a lot of practise to become proficient in its use.

So well-regarded was the sling in Ireland that from the middle Bronze Age all the way through to the early Christian period, Irish people hardly used bows at all!  They felt that slings were superior in every way to bows, and up until the development of composite bows such as those used by the Mongols and Welsh yew longbows, they were right.

A skilled slinger could launch stones of varying sizes faster, harder, further, and with as much accuracy as bowman. Half-kilo stones were used to break the armour of opposing troops. Bows were easier to use of course, which is why they gained widespread acceptance elsewhere.

In the Irish mythohistories slings can be found everywhere. From the earliest tales of Lugh killing Balor with a special sling-stone, through to Cú Chulainn fighting off an entire army single-handedly largely by sniping with a sling, the fearsome reputation of these deceptively simple weapons was well deserved.

A slingshot ball made for a specific purpose was called caer-clis (“feat ball”) or uball-clis (“feat apple”). Lugh used such a ball, called the Tathlum, to kill Balor of the Evil Eye, his grandfather and leader of Fomorian sea demons who had so plagued Eriú.

This specialised sling-stone was made by mixing the blood of toads, bears, and vipers with sea-sand from the Red Sea and letting it harden. Another type of caer-clis was a liathróid inchinne, or brain-ball, which was made from the brains of an enemy and hardened with lime.

According to legend Maeve sought refuge on an island in her old age and one day as she bathed Forbaid, the son of Conor of Ulster, struck her dead with a single sling shot - which according to tradition he fired from Elfeet, in County Longford, a distance of a mile across the lake.

Many different Irish sling stones have been found in the ruins of raths and crannógs, made of varying materials, from granite to clay to marble, ranging in size from a small plum to a large orange. These are usually perfectly round, allowing them to be bounced under shields.

Particular care must be exercised when training with slings of any kind, as they are easily capable of causing serious injury, including from ricochets. Greek style slinging was perhaps closest to the style used of old in Ireland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBh2B3oeKtM

The Staff-Sling or Crann Tabaill

Like the sling, the staff-sling or Crann Tabaill was used to throw stones with tremendous force. It was essentially a sling rigged at the end of a stick or long staff.

Due to the greater length of the staff sling, it could throw larger items further than a hand-slinger alone could. During the medieval period, these were often used to throw incendiaries over castle walls, for example or onto enemy ships.

Their range was offset by how difficult it was to aim them however, and they rarely saw use outside of situations where the target was large and relatively easy to hit.

A good video about making and using them can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e-oZEzHNOw

The Blackthorn Stick or Shillelagh

This phenomenal walking stick is covered more completely in the next section.

The Black knife or Sgian Dubh

Although best known from Scotland, the commonalities between the Irish and Scottish cultures merit a mention for the Sgian Dubh, or black knife. It was developed from the sgian-achlais, a concealed hunting knife that was worn under the armpit.

The black knife was either worn openly or concealed, and served as a general daily-use knife as well as for self defence, as a boot or holdout knife. It is probably closely related to the Irish short knife, the miodóg, and varied in construction, with some blades having a "clipped" (famously found on the Bowie knife) or "drop" point. The "spear-point" tip has now become universal.

Scalloped filework on the back of the blade is common on all Scottish knives. A short blade of 7.5 to 9 cm is typical.

Its lack of a handguard or crossguard meant it may have been used with wide or slashing cuts, to prevent the hand slipping up onto the blade, although it could be used to thrust if the thumb or ball of the thumb was positioned behind the handle.

NB: please check the knife laws in your jurisdiction before purchasing anything with a blade. In Ireland, carrying or transporting a bladed implement of any sort without good reason is generally illegal and can result in stiff prison sentences.

Gaelic Long Knife or Scian Fada (image Thomond Historical Society)

The skean, sgian or scian fada was the standard Gaelic fighting knife from at least the medieval period, possibly dating back in one form or another to Bronze Age short swords. It might also have served as a forester’s utility knife in the often heavily-wooded landscape of Ireland, similar to how machetes are used in jungle areas today.

They usually measured from 30cm to 90cm in length, were sharp on one side and had a broad spine. This gave the blade tremendous strength for both cutting and thrusting while remaining fairly nimble.

Like the sgian dubh they rarely had a hand guard, which would indicate they were primarily used for cutting strokes, but their handgrips were almost all elaborately carved and concave in shape, which would offer a safe hold for thrusting attacks. The backs of scians were flat and wide, allowing a second hand to be applied to pushing through armour or shields, making very effective bludgeons, and providing a platform by which the scian could be thrown like a dagger.

Modern testing with steel spikes of a similar profile to scians indicates that a thrown scian could potentially have penetrated even medieval plate armour to an effective depth.

Scians were also noted for their beautiful and elaborate leather sheaths.

The standard armament for an Irish kern, or forest warrior, was a scian fada, a broadsword, and two spears or throwing darts. They were light raiders and skirmishers who proved very effective at resisting foreign incursions until most of the forest cover was removed.

A superb resource to learn more about the Irish scian is “The Skean: The Distinctive Fighting Knife of Gaelic Ireland, 1500–1700” by Robert Gresh.
https://www.hodgesfiggis.ie/book/the-skean/robert-gresh/9780764366376

Gaelic Ring Pommel Sword and Leaf-Bladed Swords

The main battle weapon of the Gaelic warrior for centuries was the Gaelic Ring Pommel Sword. This was an intriguing weapon notable for its lightweight ring pommel, wide blade, and occasionally flared tip.

While no examples of medieval flared-end swords have been recovered (not surprising given that only a handful of any Irish swords have survived) some of the type have been found dating back to the pre-Christian era, possibly indicating a connection to Bronze Age leaf-shaped swords.

We also have a lot of anecdotal written and artistic evidence from the period depicting flared Gaelic blades. The possibility of an unbroken connection between these medieval Irish weapons and ancient bronze leaf blades is particularly exciting, speaking as it does of cultural and martial continuity spanning millennia.

The reasons for the unusual configurations of ring pommel swords have been speculated upon, but it is becoming accepted that they were used in slicing, slashing cuts rather than to thrust—similar to katanas.

The heavy tip of the swords would make them more effective cutters, and the empty ring pommel would serve no other purpose than to enable a grip on the sword.

Normal pommels usually serve as counterweights to the sword blade, moving the centre of gravity  back towards the hand and thus making the sword more agile. This was not a concern for the warriors who used ring pommel swords!

An excellent article from the Wilde Irish group offering new insights into the use of the Irish ring pommel sword can be found below, with selected extracts presented here:

“The third rank comprises others, also foot soldiers, who are light-armed swordsmen [Machairaphoroi: i.e., a type of ancient Seleucid light foot, unarmoured, fighting with sword, shield, and spear].  

The Irish call them Kerns [Karni].  They whirl spears, which are fitted with thongs, so manfully by strength of muscle that the spears seem to be forced into an orbital circuit like a ring.  They are armoured with shields [Caetra—i.e, the circular wooden buckler, leather covered, of the ancient Celtiberians] or an iron gauntlet; going into battle they wear no heavy armor.  

With spearpoint, they inflict wounds from afar on horseman and horse; then at close quarters they enter the fray with drawn swords.  

They are notable stone-throwers, but they have no knowledge of how to use their weapons in a well-trained manner: they have no familiarity with the art of the fencing schools, rarely piercing the foe with a thrust, more often wounding him by slashing.  

They have an amazing love for their swords, which are kept sharp and not pitted: they care for them diligently so that they may not become rusty or blunt. The story is told that a man of this class, returning from battle having received four or more dangerous wounds, inspected his sword: when he saw that it was nowhere chipped or bent he gave great thanks to God that the wounds were inflicted on his body, not on his sword.”

“The functionality of the ring pommel is now more apparent. Deliberately light in weight, it contributes to the blade heaviness whilst being wide enough to perform its primary function of preventing the user’s hand from slipping from the grip when in use.  

Armour for the non-sword arm would form a primary defense against an attack with such a weapon leaving the sword arm free for retaliation.”

“after trying both edges with his thumb, he carefully strops the blade to and fro on his shield until a satisfactory proof of the edge is made by shaving the hair off his arm.”  

Baker held that “such a weapon possesses immense power, as the edge is nearly as sharp as a razor. . . one good cut delivered by a powerful arm would sever a man at the waist like a carrot.”

“Christopher Scott Thompson in particular has considered the woodcut ‘Dravne After the Qvicke,’ and feels the kern with drawn ring pommel sword depicts the basic guard stance for this weapon: left foot forward with the sword held back behind the head, blade angled forward, its striking edge held away from the opponent.(8)  

His left hand is held up besides his cheek, per the advice of 18th century practitioners like McBane and Lonnergan, who advise this stance when cutting or defending on the inside.  

This seems to indicate the ‘equilibrio’ style of swordplay advocated, for instance, by Page in his brief treatise on the eighteenth century Highland broadsword.”

https://www.wildeirishe.com/post/irish-ring-pommel-sword-new-insight-into-use

Scots Broadsword and Targe

While not directly related to Irish weaponry, the Scottish basket-hilted (originally called Irish hilted) broadsword and targe, or small shield, do demonstrate some of the techniques historically associated with Irish swordsmanship.  The Cateran Society offers an excellent course of instruction in the subject.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amblvLnrrRE

Staff

The simple, plain or iron-shod staff is mentioned several times in the histories and mythohistories of Ireland. Usually made of oak or ash, blackthorn staves are also recorded as maide ceathrún or stafóg ceathrún.

There is little information about how these might have been wielded, although it’s possible their use was related to earlier British quarterstaff use, which developed from ancient traditions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS8_7A24NzU

Sparth Axe

The Irish Sparth axe was widely favoured by Irish warriors and travelling Scots-Irish mercenaries, the Gallowglasses. They are generally regarded as having had a triple- or even quadruple purpose axehead, with a sharp upper tip for thrusting, a broad lower blade for hewing, a hooked lower end for pulling aside shields, tripping enemies or taking down riders, and the reverse used as a warhammer, but their most distinctive common historical feature was the length of their shafts.

The Sparth axe emerged in the thirteenth century, predating and existing at the same time as the better-known European pole axe, which did the exact same job with a less streamlined and less aesthetically-pleasing design.

Hook, hammer, axe and spike, sometimes two spikes, were the characteristics of most European and related pole axes of the time, much the same as the Irish sparth axe. They were even similar in length, approximately equal to the height of the wielder.

These axes were usually used by heavy infantry wearing mail and helmets to guard the flanks of formations and cover any retreats, providing cover for lighter forces like the kerns.

Although we have no surviving treatises or instructions on how to use the sparth axe, it is does not strain possibility much to use elements from some or all of the several poleaxe treatises of the time, given that they existed simultaneously and were probably used by people in the same armies (or opposing armies).

Many treatises on poleaxe fighting survive from the 15th and 16th centuries, and from them poleaxe fighting techniques have been rediscovered and extracted.

One such treatise is from Talhoffer, below is an example of a "flow play" (training drill) from his teachings, which can be directly applied to the Irish sparth axe.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8y4jH1JnlBY

“[The Irish] always carry an axe in their hand as if it were a staff... This weapon has not to be unsheathed as a sword, or bent as a bow, or poised as a spear. Without further preparation, beyond being raised a little, it inflicts a mortal blow... From the axe there is always anxiety. If you are free from anxiety, you are not free from an axe.”

-Gerald of Wales c. 1185

Claymore or Claíomh Mór

The name of this weapon means, appropriately enough, “big sword”. Although often associated with Scottish border reavers and Highland warriors, it found its way to Ireland, gaining popularity here. This short video displays a claymore’s design:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pmOKRpCnkpU

Although we have little information about how these mighty weapons were used, it probably resembled the montante in usage, since there are a limited number of ways extra-large weapons can be used.

Throwing Darts

One of the most interesting weapons in the Irish arsenal was the throwing dart. These are short spears of varying thickness, from 8mm to 20mm in the largest cases, usually feathered and tipped with barbed or specialised heads, such as bodkin types for heavier targets or barbed heads for hunting.

They were anywhere from one meter to two meters in length.

What made these darts unique was their throwing method—a waxed cord was either attached to the shaft below the feathers, if quills were added, or a cord or ribbon was loosely tied on.

This cord was then used to throw the spear, using the length of binding as a lever.

In this we can see a direct descent from very ancient throwing sticks used to give spears more range and power, used as far back as the Neolithic era if not before. Similar throwing sticks are still used by aboriginal Australian and Amazonian tribes today. The spear butt is fitted into a notch in the stick and flung overhanded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vleudAj43tk

While throwing darts did see use in medieval Europe, the Europeans had largely forgotten about cord and stick throwing, demonstrating Irish continuity of tradition again.

Modern testing has demonstrated that throwing cords add even more power to a spear or dart than a throwing stick, adding upwards of 50% to the range and effectiveness of the weapon.

Lighter darts were mostly used for hunting small to medium game, while heavier darts were capable of taking down horses.

If the cords, called suanem or suaineamh, weren’t permanently attached to the dart, the wax and a loose wrapping could be relied upon to provide a secure hold and release when the dart was thrown.

John Dymmok, who served in the retinue of the earl of Essex, Elizabeth I’s lord lieutenant of Ireland….

“ ... a kind of footman, slightly armed with a sword, a target [round shield] of wood, or a bow and sheaf of arrows with barbed heads, or else three darts, which they cast with a wonderful facility and nearness, a weapon more noisome to the enemy, especially horsemen, than it is deadly”.

In typical fashion he denigrates their use as a nuisance rather than a  serious problem, but other accounts note that they were capable of breaking up horse charges and causing major difficulties for enemy horsemen. They are also directly mentioned in the Táin mythohistory.

A demonstration and some discussion of Irish war darts can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLx0ZRqHYPI

In reference to the reported loud buzzing sound produced when throwing Irish war darts using the wrapped cord, from the Irish epic the Táin:

"...and their eight javelins and their eight ivory-hilted blades and their eight battle-darts. These would fly from them and to them like bees on a fine day."

This is otherwise a strange comparison since bees do not tend to fly in anything resembling a straight line.

Spears

Irish battle-spears were used both in close combat and thrown at enemies. The sizes and shapes of these spears going back to the Bronze Age and before vary enormously, with heads sized from barely an arrow to over a meter in length. Some truly beautiful examples of iron and bronze spears are on display in the National Museum of Ireland, with graceful sweeping curves intended to evoke awe at the mastery of their crafting as well as fear of the injury this might inflict.

The words gae, ga, or gai, faga or foga, and sleagh were sometimes used as terms for a spear or javelin in general.

The mythohistories are redolent with mentions and whole legends about spears, from the curved spearheads of the Fir Bolg, called fiarlann, to their broad spears and the long, narrow spearheads of the De Danann.

Plenty of examples of these latter two kinds of spears can be found in the muesum today, dating from the Bronze Age.

In the mythohistories, Lugh himself had a battle-spear called the Gae-Assail, which meant the lightning spear. From lost Gorias, city of the blind wizards, was brought the Gae Assail, and no battle was ever won against it or him who held it in his hand. It was used by Lugh in the second battle of Moy Tura, for which he became known as Lugh Lamhfada, or Lugh of the Long Throw, it never missed its mark and it always returned to the hand of the thrower.

Many speculate this to be the origin of the “spear of destiny” used to pierce the side of Christ and sought after by none other than the Third Reich, and its story is a dark one, marked by greed and lust for power, with wars starting wherever it lay.

Perhaps related to the lightning spear was Lúin, found on the battlefield after the second battle of Moy Tura, from where it descended to a tall grey warrior called Celtchar in the time of Cú Chulainn. Like a vicious serpent, when the spear tasted the blood of an enemy it writhed and twisted. If no blood were tasted, it had to be quenched in a cauldron of venom.

If it were not so calmed, it would burst into flame and turn on its owner! Which is what happened to Celtchar, when a drop of venom from the spear tip accidentally dripped onto his flesh.

The leaf-shaped spearhead had become the standard Gaelic design by the iron age, and remained so almost through to the early modern period.  Shorter stabbing spears, used almost like rapiers, paired with small shields are depicted in several medieval illuminated manuscripts.

Some speculative work has been done on Gaelic spear combat, but we have no clear ideas how they might have been used, except in the broadest sense.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VFia8wRAd0

One other spear type bears particular mention, one of the most notorious spears in mythohistory!

The Gae Bolg or Gáe Bulg

Meaning “spear of mortal pain and death”, “gapped/notched spear”, or “belly spear”, this was the name of the spear of Cú Chulainn in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. It was given to him by his martial arts teacher, the warrior woman Scáthach, and its technique was taught only to him.

It was made from the bones of a sea monster, the Curruid, that had died while fighting another sea monster, the Coinchenn. Although some sources make it out to be simply a particularly deadly spear, others—notably the Book of Leinster—state that it could only be used under very specialized, ritual conditions:

“The Gáe Bulg had to be made ready for use on a stream and cast from the fork of the toes. It entered a man's body with a single wound, like a javelin, then opened into thirty barbs. Only by cutting away the flesh could it be taken from that man's body.”

So far so gruesome—but recent research has revealed that the Gáe Bulg may have been more than a legend!

According to the The Celtic Ethnography of Posidonius, by Professor JJ Tierney, the first century BC Greek philosopher, astronomer and mathematician Posidonius travelled among the “barbaric” people known today as the Celts.

His written account of that adventure is essentially lost, though fragments of it exist as citations by other ancient authors.

In one of his passages describing the weapons of the Celts, Posidonius wrote the following description of a particularly unusual class of weapon:

“Some of their javelins are forged with a straight head, while some are spiral with breaks throughout their entire length so that the blow not only cuts but also tears the flesh, and the recovery of the spear tears open the wound.”

And we have a firsthand account of something that sounds very similar to the legendary Gáe Bulg, in shape if not in material!

There are various possibilities, including that the weapon described in the Ulaid cycle of legends was a prototype upon which metal designs were later based, but there can be little doubt that there is a clear connection between what Posidonius witnessed, and Cú Chulainn’s legendary and terrifying spear.

The spectacular interpretations of the Gáe Bulg pictured were designed by Steven M. Peffley. The bottom one was made by Craig Johnson of Arms and Armor; the top one was made by Mark Morrow of Morrow's Blade and Blacksmith Shop.

Throwing Discs or the Ocharcless

One of the more obscure items on the list is the Ocharcless. The exact meaning of the term is still under discussion but the general opinion leans towards it meaning “rim feat”, referring to either throwing discs or shields with sharpened edges.

During Cú Chulainn and Fer Diad’s battle, they each armed themselves with a n-ocht ocharchliss, possibly a type of weapon, along with the same number of javelins, ivory-hilted blades and battle darts for their choice of feats.

The manner in which these feats are executed is not clearly explained, but the lines immediately following these suggest that they cast all of these weapons at each other.

Of particular interest in considering this weapon is the discovery of strange, polished disc-shaped stones in Neolithic sites. These are not easy to explain because they are sharpened on all edges, making their use as tools unlikely, since it would be difficult to apply pressure to one side without either blunting the other or injuring the user.

Varying in size from about 3cm to 12cm across, they would have made ideal throwing discs, whether by hand or sling.

Later, in the bronze and iron ages, shields with sharpened edges, either for throwing or for use as close-combat weapons are entirely possible. The Táin recounts how a leader of Queen Medb’s army fell from his horse and decapitated himself on his shield (continuing to give orders for some time afterwards, as you do!).

These shields might not necessary have been round, as the four-horned shield mentioned elsewhere in the Irish mythohistories may have been sharpened on one or more edges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kern Armour

The final weapon in this broad list is also a form of armour—Irish kerns, forest warriors, were light raiders who wore little armour, but what they did wear was striking enough to warrant an entry for itself.

While asymmetrical armour might seem like something from a fantasy novel, they would wear steel armour from the fingers to the shoulder of their offhand and use that both for attack and defence.

Being thick and strong enough to block strikes from all but the heaviest weapons, it may also have been used in a similar manner to the parrying dagger, where strikes would be blocked by the main weapon then the offhand would be used to control the enemy’s weapon.

Needless to say a blow from such a mailed gauntlet, with a steel-plated arm behind it, would have been felt even through a knight’s helm!

These clever combinations of weapons and defensive capabilities won Irish warriors renown as freelances and mercenaries throughout Europe at the time, and contributed to their reputation as effective fighters.

Chapter List (click to read):

1. Foreword
2 The Irish Language
3. Reading
4. Making and Shaping
5. The Physical Gael
6. The Warrior Gael
- The Crios Belt
- Open Hand Traditions
- Collar and Elbow Wrestling
- Gaelic Weapons
- Seanbhata
- Seanbhata Basics
- Seanbhata Guards
- Seanbhata Strikes and Blocks
- Seanbhata Close Fighting
- The Heroic Feats
7. Tradition and Culture
8. Organisation