ABSTRACT
Armies in Ireland trace their origins to the legendary Fianna and their leader Finn mac Cumaill. From at least the eleventh century, the Irish kings maintained small permanent fighting forces later known as their teaghlach or lucht tighe-meaning “troops of the household.” These were well-equipped and were divided into footmen and marcshluag (cavalry). Highly skilled professional soldiers, they were often given houses and lands among the king’s mensal lands. It was clear that, from the reign of Brian Boru (d. 1014), Irish kings could take large forces of spearmen, swordsmen, archers, slingers, and horsemen on campaign, often combining them in operations with naval forces. To put such forces into the field, Irish kings must have developed an extensive support network to maintain, arm, and feed their troops on campaign. The size of these armies and the destructive scale of Irish warfare were aptly demonstrated in 1151 at the battle of Móin Mór, where seven thousand soldiers fell, if the annals are to be believed. What characterized Irish warfare during this period was the rapid mobility of armies. For example, Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (d. 1198) developed large forces of highly mobile and well-armed horsemen-mainly drawn from the upper classes of his vassals. In comparison, Irish infantry forces seem mostly to have been lightly armed footmen. However, it is likely that the Irish elite soldiery had adopted Ostman-style chain mail armor; finds of armor-piercing arrowheads at Waterford show that some of its defenders wore chain mail. Moreover, Ruaidrí perhaps developed his permanent foot soldiers of his teaghlach or lucht tighe into a form of heavy infantry-similar to the household jarls of the Anglo-Saxon kings. Another major development in the composition of Irish armies was the growing dependence of Irish kings upon mercenaries later known as ceithirne congbála (retained bands). And from the early 1100s, Irish kings-such as Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn (d. 1166) were looking abroad-recruiting Hebridean-Norse forces and fleets from the Western Isles of Scotland to serve in Ireland. The military power of a great king such as Ruaidrí was maintained by the levy of Gaelic military serviceillustrating the extent of a king’s overlordship over his vassals. All the able-bodied population-apart from the learned and the clergy-were eligible for service. A king’s principal military commander was the marasgal (marshal), an office whose origins lay probably in the earlier dux luchta tige (the head of the king’s household). The marshal’s principal duty was the organization of the king’s army, particularly the levying and billeting of troops along with the fining of those who failed to render military service.
