Hello all, I know this has been covered before and I have done a search but for some reason alot of the pictures from the old posts are no longer viewable to me. I am looking for any and all pictures of Irish ring hilts. I am especially interested in seeing the full length pictures of the originals in the National mueseum in Dublin(River Suck/Galway etc) Any and all info on these swords would be appreciated also. I believe someone might have had a copy of Andrew Halpins Irish swords 1170-1600. I would love to have a copy emailed to me.

Other questions I have is what is the earliest verifiable date for these swords. If they are no earlier then the 15th century or 16th century then what did Irish swords look like in the 13th and 14th centuries(Pictures?). I am interested in what the Native Irish used in their victories over the Normans at Ath an Chip, Callan and Dysert O'Dea in the beginning of the Gaelic resurgence.

Also while I'm at it if the blades for the original Irish Ring hilts were made in Germany then why the big demand from the Nobility of Europe to have one from Ireland? If the King of France wanted one why not just import a blade from next door and put a ring hilt on it.

Hi Kevin.........This subject is one of my interrests...its also somewhat hard to research. One reason is that Irish records were not so prevelant as some in Art and drawings it seems. The other reason seems to be more elusive.......any books and research today seems to me to be just as hard to find ! If there are any other main works on Irish swords other than Halpins article for the RIA then I wish someone would tell me about it ! No-one seems to have bothered to write anything much which is suprising seeing that these swords and their scabbards are so unique. Thank the good Lord that Durer had the presence of mind to do his sketches or there'd be almost nothing !
This is what I've found so far in a nutshell.....they had the early Celtic types until the Vikings arrived which had a huge influence. Many early types are straight Viking types but then a definate Irish style starts to appear in the cast pommels and hilts. I cant say when the first ring-types appeared ( and Im not too sure who can ! ) but I think in the 13thC at least. Its the same with the distinctive "S" hilts often found with a three prong final...like a fork, albeit square cut.
I do know that most carried the sword in a scabbard free-hand...ie without any suspension at all. The scabbards too are also unique often being square at the tip with a fringe of leather strips about 6 inches long ( rather like Buffalo Bill's shirt ) This I am told was to facilatate drawing the sword by stepping on the fringe to pull the sword out quickly, perhaps indicating a preference for two-handed use ? The scabbard was left on the ground where it lay to be collected after the battle.....of course if you didnt win then it wouldnt matter anyway.
I do have Halpins article thanks to the generous sharing of Niall Murray...the owner of the only website of good Irish info on the web !.... http://geocities.com/na_degad/ getting anything else is like trying to find hen's teeth ! I will be glad to e-mail it to you in the next day or two as soon as I can. Theres also this brief Gallowglas history here but no sword info- http://home.earthlink.net/~rggsibiba/html/gal...ohist.html

Hope this helps.

Thanks Merv,
Do you have any pictures of swords to post?

Hello Rick,
I am also planing to have a sword made with my family name engraved on it. I would love to see yours please post that picture ASAP.
Thanks,
Kevin P Molloy

Still waiting on some picture someone has to have pictures of Ring hilts?

I have a private album with some pics that I could let you see, just e-mail me at: thomas.mac@comcast.net and I'll let you know the password ! (I'd rather not repost some of these images, publicly, as several were taken without permission by a gent who used to post here .... quality is rather poor, though !)

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=99...uid=717149

Mac

Here are some pics of the sword and scabbard...

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sword and scabard - note the fringe as Merv spoke of

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the Irish Gaelic engraving of the name

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sword in the scabbard

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sword

Very nice sword, I hate to be picky but could you post more pics of the full blade.