De Re Militari | Book Reviews
Fergus Cannan
Galloglass 1250-1600: Gaelic Mercenary Warrior
Warrior 143. Botley, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2010. 64pp. US$18.95/UK£11.99/CAN$22.00. ISBN 978-1-84603-577-7.
Medieval Ireland was a perfect country for unemployed warriors looking for a new master. A war-torn island, it offered plenty of opportunities for many Scots from the western islands and coastal areas, often noblemen fallen out of their king’s favour, who offered their fighting skills to the highest bidder. The Scottish galloglass, from the Gaelic word gallóglaigh (sing. gallóglaigh) for ‘foreign warriors’, at their arrival in the middle of the thirteenth century offered to the Irish lords the kind of soldiers they were short of, that is to say crack heavy infantry. Until the first years of the seventeenth century they were to play a prominent role in the Irish wars.
While the officers were Scottish noblemen, most of the galloglass were Irish coming from the lowest classes of society, recruited to fill out the ranks of the brigades that the Scots were not enough to complete. Tall, imposing men chosen because of their strength and size, during the frequent Irish cattle raids they provided a screen for the horsemen and kerns (light infantrymen specialized in ambushes and skirmishes) against a possible relief party. In battle they formed the vanguard in the attack and the rearguard in the retreat, invariably suffering heavy losses. Their main weapon was a Viking-style two-handed axe, which they handled with great skill and that was capable of inflicting terrible wounds. The battle-gear was also included a helmet, almost always following modern trends from the rest of Europe, and a shirt of mail. The galloglass are typically distinguished on effigies and tombs by this equipment, and the book includes a number of fine illustrations of these monuments. Brave and cruel in battle, in peacetime they were ready to exploit the households of their lord’s tenantry where they were billeted, becoming an heavy burden on an already poor country.
Skillfuly presented, wiht crisp writing, this book is the first to deal with the military history of the galloglass.[1] Cannan provides a sound, interesting treatment of the subject, without idealizing the motivations of these soldiers. The reader is lead through a compelling but always objective narrative which will appeal to non-specialists and scholars alike. As usual with Osprey titles, plenty of illustrations are included, included some wonderful paintings by Seán Ó ‘Brógáin.
Notes
[1] ed. note: a conference proceedings volume has very recently appeared: Seán Duffy (ed.), The World of the Galloglass (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2007). See review of that in the Scottish Historical Review 89, no. 227, Part 1 (2010): 102-103.
Sergio