I love it, I love it, I love it. Mo Gaeilgeoir, Mo Chairde fellow people into Gaelic Irish warfare stumbled across this by accident. Some great posts here sorry in advance if I double over anyone and sorry for lack of sources unforeseen circumstances.
Graham T.W and Kevin P Molloy are right most historians towards Gaelic Irish history are Anglophiles not just historians from abroad but Irish historians as well, the vast majority who believe history began from the Norman invasion and the Gaels were just a rabble bunch of Barbarians armed with pitch forks and slings, although I'd rather be a rabble barbarian than a square Norman :-). There is another large minority of Romantic Gaels as well mainly Irish who believe the Gaels mounted on a white steed rode into the sunset in their gold clad suit of armour almost Arthurian like. It's up to us 1% to spread the truth.
As we know Irish military history is full of inconsistencies, I think a couple of reasons for this.
1 we are slotting a thousand years of warfare into one section as it would of shifted and changed through time although I think in Ireland it remained quite similar, I like to think they were like the samurai holding onto ancient traditions but reality is it's the style of warfare best suited in Ireland and by updating weapons and armour you can keep up with the Jones's.
2 is variety as we know it was split into Kingdoms, big Kingdoms, Small Kingdoms, sub-Kingdoms and seed kingdoms. Some richer than others some more accessible some with conservative kings some with progressive kings, if the Tír Eoghain fielded an army you could expect 2,000 men maybe 200-500 from the Teaglacht bascally the house troops, Uí Neill Mòr and his clan, bodyguards, minor chiefs and retinue's and personal mercenaries armed with the best lances, spears, swords, axes and darts also with best armour whether made or bought to fit the style of warfare at hand. If you think this far fetched well it was an independent kingdom who could trade and make war like any other kingdom in Europe. These mobilise either as light-medium cavalry Marchsluag or medium-heavy infantry or both as the horseboys would be in and out with horse and weapons as needed. Flanking the enemy before doubling back handing horse and lance to horseboy who throws the king his axe and
shield so he can lead a heavy infantry assault.
But also as he calls a Rising Out of all able bodied men we will see the bulk of the army made up of all sorts some would be veterans and a good king will know this possibly personally supplying them with good spears and shields, to add to that weapons and armour they salvaged from past wars,
You would also have the poorest of Kerns no armour maybe even no shield and a couple of darts as we do see this type of soldier referenced. The problem is all these footmen are lumped into one title Kerns but we would have undoubtedly had different degrees of Kern heavy infantry, light infantry and super light infantry. Also if the same king was only going raiding a neighbour for cows he might have opted to travel light for this excursion which dominated Gaelic life.
We must also remember there was clans who had designated roles doctors, clergy etc but also for horse and for spears the Uí Cinneide and Uí Mordha come to mind O' Kennedy's and O' More's who supplied fighting men for provincial kings later to have seem to become specialist Bonnacht clans for producing mercenaries.
A lesser kingdom like Mag Raghnaill's of Muintr Eolais or Uí Tuathaill of Fircullen MacRannells O'Tooles could possibly only muster a few dozen heavy armoured warriors while the rest would be poorly armoured but no less fierce as the English pointed out on numerous occasions the Gaels would be lightly armoured but hit on a charge like heavy infantry putting their full bodies into the charge sounds familiar with Roman accounts of charging Celts.
Also Kingdoms may have varied Thomond might of preferred a certain type of soldier or weapon to Tyrone and so on, on this topic I'm sure there is evidence of Thomond fielding Norman style Men-at-arms in a battle whether self produced or mercenaries no reason they might not of adopted this type of soldier for a while if at all.
Archery seems to be the main boggle in Gaelic Ireland but no reason archers would not of been mixed in with kern while skirmishing with dart, bow and arrow.
I didn't think there was any doubt that we had cavalry pre Norman invasion as Graham T.W pointed out plenty of sources to verify this and seems to have taken over from the chariot on and around the tim of the vikings although the chariot is a tricky one as our terrain hardly suited chariot but with half decent roads and in the summer just maybe also along with our heavily dense forest we must of had plains Magh in Irish is plain places like Magh Reine and Magh Brega may have been forest free plains or maybe just flat land.
Graham T.W I think Marchsluag would be riding solder or rider soldier or mounted soldier rather than horse soldier for direct translation. All Marc sounding words point towards a jockey or actions of a jockey rather than an actual horse.
Sorry for the all over the shop post excitement got the better of me.
Slán agus Beannacht. Go fèidir leis an bòthar ardù chun bualadh libh.
Look forward to more posts.