Irish Celtic Weapons: Gaelic Irish Warfare Facts For Kids

The Gaelic people, that is, the Scottish, Irish, and Manx, practiced a certain type of warfare during the premodern period, which is called Gaelic warfare.

In Gaelic Ireland, before the Viking Age came in which they set up new customs and warfare, a lot of importance was placed on ritual combat and clan wars too. Ritual single combat was an especially important part of Celtic ritual warfare.

Celtic history is extremely interesting. If you look at all the medieval swords and weaponry found in Ireland, the detailing and decoration on them will tell you that they are not of native manufacture, or to be precise, they are not of Gaelic origin.

Gaelic warfare kept changing as Celtic warriors went out on raids and brought back the weapons or swords that they'd looted.

Celtic swords are slightly different when compared to Scottish swords. Celtic swords are either long swords or short swords, but with Scottish swords, they include various basket-hilted swords, claymore swords, and Scottish broadswords too.

The weaponry was not made out of materials that were unusual or fancy.

Normally, like all other weapons and arms, you'd expect a Celtic sword to be made out of iron or another similar metal. However, Celtic weapons from the Celtic Croft are made out of stainless steel and high-carbon steel too!

Every Celtic warrior, chieftain, or head of a clan needs a sword to complete his legacy. A Celtic sword explains a lot about its owner, like their strength, their character, their honor, and, ultimately, their success when they go into battle.

The warriors, armed with either swords or spears and protected with a few shields and steel helmets, were able to defeat the Roman Legions who were known to be battle pros around 390 BC, and the Celts were also able to defeat Rome itself!

Typically, a Celtic warrior wore bronze helmets, bronze chest plates, and carried a longsword with their Irish round shield. Sometimes, the Gaelic Irish went into war without wearing any armor!

This shows that wearing armor was a simple affair. Those who could not afford metal armor wore padded coats!

To settle a dispute and to measure a warrior's fighting capability, it was customary at that time to challenge an individual to single combat or a dual where both parties fought to the death.

Such fights were particularly normal before a battle broke out. Sometimes, if family disputes occurred, the male members would go on to duel each other on a river ford, and such fights were absolutely common!

The combat would be won by whoever made the first cut, but it soon changed to the victor being announced when one kills the other.

Gaelic Ireland had many cities and towns colonized by the Anglo-Normans, and they often had defense walls or masonry walls. Sometimes these defensive walls and town gates were built as a physical expression of power and wealth too.

Irish Celtic Weapons History

For many years, the backbone of Irish Celtic weapons were soldiers that were armed lightly with a sword and a bow. A long sword or dagger, darts, and a set of javelins too.

Many of the weapons that the Irish had were all looted from their overseas ventures when they went to wars with other countries or on raids. Hence, Irish Celtic weapons were not really manufactured natively.

The armor used by Celtic warriors was not complicated and was, in fact, quite simple! They wore a helmet that was made out of either steel or bronze, a shield with a spindle-shaped boss, and bronze chest plates.

Later on, some shields took on a more oval shape with an iron-bronze boss, and this was introduced by the Anglo Saxons. Sometimes, people would go to battle without wearing armor too!

List Of Irish Celtic Weapons

Irish Celtic weapons were often looted from the places that the warriors would raid or conquer, so the weapons were hardly of original manufacture.

Most of the Irish weapons used by the warriors were long daggers or swords, spears, oval or long-shaped shields, and even knives that varied greatly in terms of sharpness and use. The weapons that a soldier or warrior possessed spoke a lot about their character, strength, and power.

However, from historical records, Gaelic warriors always went to battle with an up-to-date set of weapons that worked in their favor most of the time.

Physical Features Of Irish Celtic Weapons

Irish Celtic weapons are known to have certain markings that indicate styles and patterns that come from the Celtic culture. The shields were long or oval with a certain twisted marking in the center.

These shields are used to protect the upper part of the body, and the shields have either a bronze or iron boss. The swords were sharp and were made both long and short.

The sword is usually hung from an iron or brass chain. Different types of spears were also used by the warriors, which varied according to size and use.

Spears are believed to be the most popular weapon of the Celts, and they threw them like javelins! After the spear, came the sword.

They spend many hours at the welding shop, sharing their spears and swords. The breastplates were made out of iron or bronze too.

Sometimes, depending on the status of the warrior in the community, they would make helmets or swords out of gold or silver if they could afford it. Some warriors of Gaelic origin also used bows and arrows, usually when they went on raids.

Uses Of Irish Celtic Weapons

Irish Celtic weapons were used for a wide range of uses. First and foremost, Irish Celtic weapons were used when going to battle or on raids.

Often, at that time and age, many people got into conflict with one another, and they'd whip out their swords, challenging them to a duet. The winner would emerge only when one of the two was put to death.

Of course, this is not practiced today, but back in the day, challenging someone to a dual was quite a common occurrence. The weapons were also used to fight invaders when they came in unannounced into towns and cities!