Gaelic Martial Arts

Gaelic Martial Arts

The Indigenous Martial Culture of Ireland

Today when an image is put to Martial Arts visions of Far East countries such as China, Japan and Thailand who for centuries have taking practice in their proud and honoured heritage of the fighting arts are first to come to mind. Martial Arts from this region include some of the most widely practice fighting systems in the world today, such as Karate, Taekwon Do, Jujitsu and Muay Thai. However what many people wouldn’t picture is Ireland. Yet Ireland does have a extensive heritage of Martial Arts that have been practiced throughout the centuries gone by  but would not be a country one would associate with Martial Arts even though it is definitely a land that is associated with fighting.

Ireland has a deep rooted Warrior Culture that stretches from the Fianna to the Fenians and right up to modern days with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) who fought the Irish War of Independence from 1919 - 1921 and were active right up to the Troubles of Ulster 1969 - 1998. 

Remnants of these arts still survive today in places you may least expect such as Hurling, one of Ireland's great native sports, which was originally a game that trained boys in the ways of war and was used as a method to build up a person’s agility for battle. Another is Boxing, Just as many of the world’s nations have, Ireland developed its own styles of fist fighting. In particular, Ireland’s more traditional form of this art survives within the Bare Knuckle Boxing culture of the Irish Travelling Community. Then finally the Shillelagh, a 3 foot piece of Blackthorn with a knob on top, often sold as a tourist trinket in the form of a walking stick. Nevertheless this walking stick has a much more sinister history than being a simple walking aid. Its original design was a much more robust piece of timber with a larger and denser knot on top used to smash in skulls much like the Mace or War Clubs of the medieval times. Its appearance was often shaped in the form of a walking stick in order to deceive the British authorities as the Irish were banned from owning formal weapons by the Colonial powers in the 17th century.

Although there are many areas and eras in which the fighting styles of Ireland could be broken down into, the focus here is on the semi-modern methods and most structured Marital Arts systems which can be defined into four main topics Boxing, Wrestling, Stick Fighting and Faction Fighting.

Boxing

Boxing or "Dornálíocht" as it was known in the native Irish tongue, Dorn being the Gaelic word for fist, has existed in Ireland in one form or another for millennia. The art of Pugilism which refers to the art of fighting with ones hands, has a great hold in Irish society. A more raw and purer combat sport than the boxing of today it is this fist fighting art that will be our main focus.

It is no secret that Boxing has been a prominent sport in Ireland for centuries. Modern Boxing owes much of its origins to the fist fighting techniques of the Celtic lands, notably Ireland. Many of the earliest professional boxers were from dear old Erin both in Europe and later in America.

Pugilism consisted of two opponents with no gloves or additional padding protecting their hands who brawled it out for as long as deemed necessary. This usually meant that in the end only one man was left standing. Nowadays this form of the sport is better known as Bare Knuckle Boxing or BKB.

The difference between a street fight and a bare-knuckle boxing match is that it is structured and has rules.  The sport includes a number of vertical closed fist strikes and generally stand up grappling such as trips and throws are allowed. With Pugilism a fight could last over an hour so with bare hand hitting solid skull grappling was inevitable. 1838 is considered to be the golden age for Bare Knuckle Boxing when the London Prize Fighting Rules had been instituted. Great fighters from this era include John L. Sullivan and Paddy Ryan. Though the rules were more exhaustive than the prior Broughton Rules they were still quite minor compared to the Boxing we know today. The rules included No Butting, No hitting a downed man, No hitting below the belt, No gouging, NO kicking, No grabbing from the waist down and No falling on a downed opponent knees first.

When it came to Pugilism there were many variations on the rules usually to benefit gambling however and not the Fighters, it is a blood sport after all. In a typical bout the fight would begin with the two Pugilists standing toe to toe. Once the fight commenced a round did not end until a man was dropped. From here he was given 30 seconds to get back to his feet and stand toe to toe with his opponent again and this cycle repeated until one man was knock unconscious or unable to continue.

Today Bare Knuckle Boxing survives in the Travelling Community of Ireland were they are known to settle a dispute in "The Traditional Irish Way" with fists than resort to the courts or call the police. Known as Travellers, Pikeys, Itinerants, Gypsy or the derogatory Knacker. The Traveller group take great pride in their Pugilistic culture and have built up a tough reputation because of it.

Traveller Bare Knuckle Boxing fights are strictly Traveller only events and "Buffers", as they refer to the settled people of Ireland, are forbidden to attend. A fight will usually take place in an isolated area of the Irish countryside. The greatest fighter of all will be crowned "King of the Travellers" but it is no easy feat.

The fights can be gruesome! Blood is part of the game. The title is earned in blood, sweat, snot and gore. Sometimes there are rules, no biting, no butting, no kicking, no gouging, no hitting a downed man, often there are not! When a fight does include rounds they have been known to go to over 50 and even when illegal biting and head butts are often thrown in. These battles are not for the faint heated to say the least.

Some well-known Irish Bare Knuckle boxers include Bartley Gorman, James Quinn McDonagh and Dan Donnelly. Though the sport has dwindled in recent years Ireland has made a major mark in the professional and amateur Boxing scene around the world with the likes of former WBA featherweight champion Barry McGuigan, former WBO middleweight and super-middle weight champion Steve Collins and with amateurs such as Kenneth Egan who won Silver in the 2012 Olympics and Katie Taylor who won the Gold in the Olympics of the same year and is also a five time consecutive gold medallist at the Women's World Championship, six time gold medallist at the European Championships, and five time gold medallist at the European Union Championships.  

The Irish mark does not end here however. Irish-Americans such as Mickey Ward, Jack Dempsey and James J. Braddock are some of boxing’s greats, all World Champions and known for their distinct Irish nature of battling it out until the bitter end.

Wrestling

Wrestling is perhaps man's oldest form of Martial Art and has existed in many Cultures since the beginning of time. It would be fair to say the people of Ireland have a long history of the grappling arts and much like other cultures developed their own folk styles native to the Island. There is a carving on the Market Cross at Kells which dates back to the 8^th century, that shows two wrestlers gripping each other as if they are about to start a match.

Records of grappling in single combat can be found in various manuscripts in Old Irish. In the meeting between CúChulain and his son Connla they first wrestled before resorting to deadly combat. The style of wrestling they used required the grapplers to grip each other's belts in the opening stance.

One of the folk styles native to Ireland is Collar and Elbow wrestling. In this style the smaller man tended to dominate as speed and technique being valued over strength and size. It was often practiced shirtless, so the term collar only refers to the areas grabbed in the contest. Sometimes tight jackets with double sewn seams were worn however. Footwear was banned from being worn in competition due to the kicking and tripping techniques employed. The wrestlers, who practiced this style referred to themselves as "Scufflers".

The initial hold of this style is the foundation of the sport as well as the origin of its name. The wrestlers faced one another and grabbed the elbow with the right hand and the collar area with the left. This stance forced the Scufflers to use technique rather than bull rush the opponent. The beginning of the match was often a test of strategy and balance. The Scufflers would try to circle each other clockwise while a series of unbalancing manoeuvres, including kicking and tripping were deployed by both opponents. This stage of the match could last some time but inevitably a take-down would occur. A flying mare or a snap mare was a common takedown. Ground wrestling began after one or both of the Scufflers hit the ground were techniques such as Half-nelsons and various grapvines as well as other ground control moves were used.

Coraíocht is a back-hold style of wrestling that was practiced in the western areas of Ireland, Connemara, Galway and Donegal. In tradition, at the beginning of a match the referee would yell out "Lámh an iochdair, lámh an uachdar"(one hand up, one hand down). The rules are very similar to the other back-hold styles of wrestling such as those found in Scotland.

Bataireacht

“Bataireacht” is the term used to describe the culture of stick fighting in Ireland. Irish stick-fighting is thought to have originated during the 17^th century when the natives were banned from owning formal weapons and from here it became deeply integrated into Irish culture with the most common weapons being the Irish Bata or cudgel. From a young age Irish boys were exposed to the traditions of the Bata by their elders and once they came of age to carry a stick, it was seen as the transition into manhood. Traditionally a fighter would carve a notch into the Bata as a count for each man he had killed. So fighters would be weary of a man with a heavily notched stick.

The Bata often referred to the Shillelagh (Sáil-éile). The shillelagh was carried about in public with ease as an innocent looking walking stick but was implemented as a devastating weapon. There were various lengths and styles of Batas. Two of the most common were the Shillelagh and the Cudgel (Smíste).

The shillelagh is a piece of Blackthorn made by taking either the branch of a tree or an entire juvenile tree including the root knob and cutting it up to approximately three foot in length which was then left to cure so it hardened into a blunt force weapon. The Cudgel was generally smaller in length than the Shillelagh but sported a mighty knob on top used for breaking skulls. Sometimes a fighters may hollow out the knob and fill it with molten lead to increase the top heavy effect, this was known as a loaded Bata. The name “Shillelagh” comes from the Shillelagh forest in Co. Wicklow which was once known as a forest containing quality oak but has little more than vanish due to over logging.

Faction Fighting

Faction Fighting of “Facseaníocht” was the name given to phenomenon that broke out in Ireland during the 17^th century in which large groups of men fought pitched battles using Blackthorn sticks such as the Shillelagh. First recorded in Co.Tipperary it is said to have spread like wildfire throughout the country.

The faction wars took place during the 19^th century and wold have been a major milestone for Irish Martial Arts as it provided a platform to utilise them in a live battlefield environment. A Faction Fight was usually based around families or “Clanns” and took place on the fair days or on Sunday after mass. Each Faction had a trainer which they called the Maighistir Prionnsa or fencing master who taught in the use of the Bata. The Factions fought for pride, land, territory or sometimes, just for fun.

One may think this was just a bunch of thugs who mindlessly beat the brains out of one another but one would be wrong.  Stick Fighting was a trained art with several movements, hand grips and techniques such as, blocks, strikes and backhands. These Melees even had rules although they were not always followed but honour was important to a lot of the fighters due to the fact they were poor and Bataireacht was all they had. The rules:

Both factions had to have evenly numbered groups and a similar weapon class.

Dirty fighting was to be avoided.

No grouping up on one man.

Women could take part but could not be hit by men on purpose.

Everything else goes.

Faction Fights were known to be brutal and it was common for deaths to occur as well as scores of serious injuries. The largest recorded Faction Fight took place on the 24^th of June 1834 at Ballyeigh strand, Ballybunion, Co.Kerry. It was fought between two Factions made up of the Lawlors, Blacks and Mulvihills on one side and the Coleens on the other. It is said over 3000 fighters took part and in the bloody aftermath 200 lay dead and hundreds wounded.

To conclude, the Fighting Irish earned this name through years of battle and defiance, through years of practicing and developing all forms of techniques in order to overcome an adversary and for making a mark on some of the top blood and impact sports on earth. They earned it for being warriors, and not for simply being renowned for being rowdy bunch!