Alongside the annual Medieval Armoured Combat event (the ‘Claregalway Castle Shield’ ), a unique public event (Combat in Late Medieval Ireland and Beyond: Objects – Texts – Practices ) will take place on 27 September at 8pm in the top floor of the stunningly renovated medieval towerhouse at Claregalway Castle.
Three lectures accompanied by a live demonstration will examine combat in the late Middle Ages (14th–16th centuries ), setting Ireland within the broader European context. Medieval violence, often central to popular images of this historical period, will be approached here not through cliché, but through some of the surviving evidence: archaeological finds, manuscript sources, and practical experimentation.
The audience will have the chance to see faithful replicas of period weapons and armour, and to discover the rich variety of sources—from material objects to illustrated fencing manuals—that allow us to reconstruct many aspects of medieval combat.
Dave Swift MSc (Claíomh – Irish Living History and Military Heritage ), speaking on ‘The defensive panoply of native Irish nobility and galloglas c.1390 – 1580’, will present archaeological and historical evidence for the weapons and armour of late medieval Ireland, alongside high-quality replicas.
Dr Jacopo Bisagni (University of Galway ), talking about ‘Fight-Books in the Late Middle Ages: the Case of I.33’, will introduce medieval fighting manuals, focusing on the earliest known example: the I.33 manuscript, a unique sword-and-buckler treatise from early 14th-century Germany.
This talk will be followed by a practical demonstration with steel weapons of some of its techniques. Dr Andrew Ó Donnghaile (University College Dublin ), with a talk on ‘Irish cavalry in late medieval Ireland’, will examine the development of medieval Irish cavalry, from the light hobelar horsemen to the Gaelic Irish cavalry of the 16th century.
By combining material culture, manuscripts, and martial practice, this unique heritage event will offer a vivid insight into the complex and sophisticated art of combat of the late Middle Ages, in Ireland and beyond–no less in the perfectly fitting venue of a medieval towerhouse.
Tickets for the event are priced at €15 and are available via Eventbrite. Seating is limited to 60 attendees, and early booking is strongly recommended to avoid disappointment.