2/19/2023 0 Comments Irish cane shillelagh![]() Carved to fit the thrower’s particular style and imbued with mystical power, Irish throwing stones were still being used, with accuracy, in the 19 th century. The English and other groups roundly ridiculed the Irish, comparing their attack to small boys throwing rocks, but these throwing stones were no mere pebbles. And while they may have carried similar weapons, every country had their own style and approach to combat.Īncient Irish fighters used carefully hewn stones as weapons, throwing them with apparently expert precision at enemy combatants at surprisingly far distances. Geneticists found that there appears to be little difference in the DNA of the Irish and the Brits, although similar genetic make-up does not preclude a vast history of distrust, hatred, and war. The Irish may have loved their use of stones, sticks, and swords, but they were not necessarily particular to their culture. In Ireland, fighters routinely adorned their swords and other weapons with jewels and gold, although the vogue in ancient times was to festoon one’s sword with the teeth of large sea animals, known colloquially as claideb d é t or ‘sword of teeth.’ The use of weapons in Ancient Ireland and in historic Europe in general, advanced and changed as warfare evolved. ![]() Joyce notes that the ancient Irish used broadswords, much like their neighbors, although the English would claim to be the ones who invented the broadsword. ![]() In his book, A Social History of Ancient Ireland, historian P.W. As rulers changed, politics evolved that continued to reduce Irish autonomy on a grand political scale, yet, as is so often the case when comparing history on a micro rather than a macro level, individual Irishmen and women asserted their individuality not in their politics, but in their fighting.Īncient Irish warriors used a great deal of weapons, including swords, spears, and sticks, which were in common use by all their neighbors. Henry VIII named himself King of Ireland in 1541, and less than one hundred years later, under the reign of his daughter, Elizabeth 1, the country was ripped apart through harsh penal laws and the persecution of Catholics. In the 12 th century, the Normans invaded Ireland, beginning the reign of the English in Ireland. In the 9 th century, the Vikings began their invasion of Ireland, intermingling with the now occupied Irish, until they were defeated and essentially driven out of Ireland by Brian Boru, famed Irish King, in 1014. to 16 th century A.C.E., the people who occupied Ireland, known as the Celts, maintained an agrarian lifestyle frequently interrupted by both local skirmishes and international warfare. In the Annals of Ulster, a historic text that covers the operation of the country of Ireland from Saint Patrick’s arrival in the mid-5 th century A.C.E. Ireland is an old country, settled thousands of years ago and becoming a bastion of Christianity in the formerly pagan Europe. The myth of the violent Irish hooligan, perpetuated through popular culture representations authored, most frequently, by their British rulers, hinges on the Shillelagh, a weapon that is as ancient and enigmatic as Ireland itself. ![]() "But Kelly himself, his arms akimbo stood calmly over his enemy." From The Party Fight and Funeral (Carleton's Irish Peasantry by William Carleton, George Routledge & Co, 1854)
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