[David McElrea]

Can anyone tell me about the armour worn by Hugh O'Neill in the portrait below? I'm not too sure what to make of it. It appears (to me) to be some kind of splinted armour worn over maille... is this a typically European piece? This is a little outside of my normal time-period.

Thanks.

[JE Sarge]

Looks to me like a 16th c. English brigandine.

Something along these lines, but more intricate.

http://www.by-the-sword.com/acatalog/3030.jpg

Shoulders appear to be decorative cloth though instead of offering actual protection...

[David McElrea]

Thanks very much. I couldn't tell for sure if it was brigandine... it almost had an oriental look about it to me, but this is very much outside of my normal time period. I had thought, given the times, that English or Spanish was most likely.

Thanks again,
David

[Mark Millman]

Dear Mr. McElrea,

I don't think that it's possible to discern anything from the image you've reproduced. It appears to be a nineteenth-century copy or version of some earlier original. It's entirely possible that it's removed by more than one generation from that original. A quick search on Google Images reveals this version of your image; note the caption, which describes it as being "From an engraving by William Holl". Note also how the sleeves, which ought to be mail, resemble sweater sleeves; and the detailing at the shoulders and around the armpits, which might be meant to represent pauldrons, is, to put it mildly, confused.

The original portrait may be this image. Regrettably, this view is cropped; I'm afraid that I couldn't find a full version. At least in this, points are visible along the shoulder-line, suggesting that the armor may be an embossed plate harness or corselet.

I hope that this proves helpful.

Best,

Mark Millman

[David McElrea]

Mark,

That's helpful indeed. Look's like I'm going to have to do a bit of digging!

David