[Neal Colleran]

I was curious as to what types of swords were historically accurate and commonly used in Ireland between the 10th and 16th century. I know that pre Viking the swords were Roman-esque, and the la tene blades. I'm more curious about the centuries I have specified.

I'm guessing the 10th century the Irish would have adopted the type X due to the Viking influence.
And pictures I have found lead me to believe the Type XIX usually with open ring hilts were also common. The type XIX was something seen in Spain and the Irish have a genetic and political connection to Spain as well.

I saw some reproduction blades with type XVIII profiles but I wasn't sure if that were accurate.

Perhaps someone more knowledgeable on the subject can give me other blade profile examples that were common.

[Jeffrey Faulk]

My understanding is that the ring hilt, while distinctive, is a late period style (but I could certainly be wrong). In general they would have used largely the same styles as the rest of Western Europe, with a few decades' lag to allow for their distance from the rest of civilization, so you would have seen older styles of sword being used alongside a few more modern blades. Also, they never really went in for plate armour on a large scale from what I recall-- fabric and mail protection being more common their style-- so cutting blades hung on for much longer.

[Mark Lewis]