Celtic Sword Types & Their Historical Uses

Gaelic Irish military organization and tactics. Irish kern, the Gaelic Irish light foot soldiers of Tudor Ireland, also called Woodkern, Woodkarne. Gaelic Irish gallowglass, the Irish heavily armed axmen. Distinctive Irish weapons such as Irish dart, skean, sparth axe and ring-hilted sword.. Shield.—From the earliest period of history and tradition, and doubtless from times beyond the reach of both, the Irish used shields in battle. The most ancient shields were made of wicker-work, covered with hides: they were oval-shaped, often large enough to cover the whole body, and convex on the outside.

Irish gallowglass and kern. Drawing by Albrecht Dürer, 1521. Gaelic warfare was the type of warfare practiced by the Gaelic peoples (the Irish, Scottish, and Manx) in the pre-modern period.. In the early part of the 16th Century the warriors of Ireland were very traditional in armament and tactics, but as the wars continued more up-to-date weapons made their appearance and some full scale battles were fought, though the traditional "guerrilla-type" tactics were more successful, as in the Irish victory of the Yellow Ford, 1598.