The Galloglass: Ireland's Most Sought-After Mercenaries
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The Galloglass were some of the most fearsome mercenaries in history. Truly professional, selected carefully only from the strongest, and equipped with head-splitting axes, these warriors decisively shaped Irish history and warfare between the 13th and 16th century. The Galloglass were an elite warrior infantry, both highly effective in battle and very well suited for protection duty. Starting off as simple mercenaries traveling from the rough coasts of northwestern Scotland, they evolved into a sedentary class of warriors in Ireland. Their family networks provided all of Ireland with deadly warriors who could easily match English knights. In this video we explore how contemporary historiography explains who the Galloglass were, what made them so effective, and finally, how they fought.
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Bibliography
Duffy, S. (ed.), The world of the galloglass Kings, warlords and warriors in Ireland and Scotland, 1200-1600, Dublin 2016.
Hayes-McCoy, G. A., Scots Mercenary Forces in Ireland, 1565-1603, Dublin 1937.
McInerney, L., The Galloglass of Thomond: Gallóglaigh Thuadhmhumhain, in: North Munster Antiquarian Journal, vol. 55, 2015Marsden, J., Galloglas. Hebridean and West Highland Mercenary Warrior Kindreds in Medieval Ireland, Edinburgh 2003.
Prendergast, M., SCOTS MERCENARY FORCES IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY IRELAND, in: France, John (ed.), Mercenaries and Paid Men. The Mercenary Identity in the Middle Ages (History of Warfare vol. 47), Leiden/Boston 2008, pp 366f.
Price, L., Armed Forces of the Irish Chiefs in the Early 16th Century, in: Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 2:2 (1932).
Spenser, E., Ireland Under Elizabeth and James the First, Described by Edmund Spenser.
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I had heard of the Galloglass before but didn't know too much about their history. Thanks a bunch for bringing them to life in front of us.
You should make more of these mercenary units videos. Maybe you could do one on the Varangian Guard as well.
Ah, Welsh longbows have entered the chat. They were the most prized mercenary in Europe.
After years of extensive research, historians have finally determined that Gallowglasses have an attack of 16, a charge bonus of 9 and a total defence of 12.
They were too expensive as mercenaries though, and had terrible protection against ranged attacks in M2TW
Truth... Still one of my favorite mercenaries. :D
@@scottanno8861You use them as shick troops lol. If it got shot by arrows you're using it wrong
@@breakerdawn8429 Easier said than done bro England is all longbowmen
@@scottanno8861 Wait you didn't hire them while playing as the English?
At the end of the 16th century the Irish earl of Tyrone Hugh O’Neill revolutionised native Irish warfare by being the first gaelic chieftain to raise a standard army from the peasantry, rather than relying on the traditional gallowglass and kerne, and trained this force in contemporary European pike and shot tactics. He managed to raise up to 10,000 men, an unprecedented number for Irish armies at the time, and armed them with so many arquebusiers they actually had more firearms than the English army. This was the most serious threat the English had ever faced in Ireland, and they were able to inflict a series of stinging defeats against the forces of the English crown in Ireland before eventually being defeated themselves at Kinsale in 1601.
If the spanish landed in the right part of ireland, things might have been different. What I want to know is, what did hugh o'neill want to achieve? make ireland a vassal state of Spain, or gain more independence for ireland, or just ulster. Hard to know.
The thing is ,anglo norman lords also used gallowglass mercenaries. So the English would probably have regiments of them in thier armies as well
Would love an accompanying video on the Kerns as the gallowglass and kerns often fought on the continent in groups with the two units complimenting each other's fighting style. When the military reforms of O'Neill came in in the late 16th century he reorganised this manipular system, rather than light infantry and heavy infantry, he re-equipped the Gallowglass as pikemen, and the light infantry Kern's as musketeers with calivers.
Oooooh we need a good Kern video
Seconding this request!
1000%
In the Battle of Curlew Pass in 1599, a detachment of Gallowglass on foot their swords and axes counter-charged a charge of the English cavalry, and won. Fierce warriors indeed
I live about 15 minutes away from a town in Donegal, Ireland called Milford. When I was a kid and we were traveling through it my father used to constantly remind us what Milford was in Irish, Baile na nGallóglach, town of the Galloglasses!
Gallowglasses also have the distinction of being mentioned in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, with the line “of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied”, which speaks to the impression they made on contemporary English minds. Ireland in the 16th century was England’s Afghanistan of the time, and the gallowglass, although becoming obsolete, were still feared enemies.
So like the gallowglass were suicide bombers of their era
@@backtonovember5306 No? Why would you think that?
@@cacamilis8477 It's the only logical conclusion yknow. 1/1 = 1, 2+2 = 4, every action has a reaction, allat n shit
@@backtonovember5306 Then explain your logic. This isn't hard.
I used the comparison of Ireland being the Afghanistan of Shakespeare’s day, because it was a prolonged, costly occupation of a very foreign land fighting against natives fond of ambushes and other non-conventional tactics. The galloglass-suicide bomber comparison doesn’t exactly fit though,
Inviting Normans into your country to help fight your enemies is like letting a pack of wolves into your house to get rid the mice
Lmao indeed
Though it worked in Scotland.
It was centuries after William the bastard/conqueror invited himself so it wasnt those normans anymore :D
@@denizergun6325 yes
Although it worked out for me. My family became very powerful and still to this day hold public officer and military positions, have spread to Canada, USA and many other places. We Mortons come from Robert the bastards half brother Robert curthose. Now you can find the name in many places. Quite fascinating.
The standards of martial culture are quite diverse: 13th century - train live long to become an acceptable warrior 16th century- fight or starve
5-6century was probably one of the toughest medieval period imo :D
YES!!!!!! more irish topics please 🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪
Given the style of weapons used (2 handed axes) it likely they were a Celtic progression of Housecarls/Huscarls with a mercenary bent. It's the further progression of the Norse influence on Ireland and possibly some Saxon too. At the Battle of Hastings there are accounts of Huscarls felling mounted knights too.
I read somewhere that Hugh O'neill's Musketeers, where originally Galloglass, as they were the only ones he could trust with firearms
Yes and no. The kerns used matchlocks but were only using them for hit and run tactics. The Gallowglass' discipline of never turning back worked well in holding rank and keep shooting without screwing up and blowing yourself up.
"By the way, would the Gallowglass Norwegian,🇳🇴 Scottish,🏴 Irish,🇮🇪 mercenaries payed,🪙 💵 by the King,👑 Charles the fifth of Granada, Habsburg Spain,🇪🇸 to explore and conquer primitive stone,🪨 age ancient Aztec Mexico,🇲🇽 San Salvador,🇦🇷 and Panama,🇵🇦 with Hernan Cortez, Pedro de Alvarado, Cristobal de Olid and Bernal Diaz, in the year of fifteen hundred nineteen to the year of fifteen hundred twenty-one during the exploration,🔭 christianization,💒☦ colonization, and conquest of the primitive stone,🪨 age ancient aztec empire of primitive stone,🪨 age ancient Mexico,🇲🇽 San Salvador, 🇦🇷 and Panama,🇵🇦 in the year of fifteen hundred nineteen to the year of fifteen hundred twenty-one, during the age of exploration,🔭 of the new world,🗺 in the year fifteen hundred nineteen to fifteen hundred fifty-three?"
"By the way, would Hugh O'Neil 's Norwegian,🇳🇴 Scottish,🏴 Irish,🇮🇪 Gallowglass musketeer mercenaries on horseback,🏇 of an English,🏴 standard thoroughbred horses,🐴 wearing Southern German,🇩🇪 plate,🍽 armor and chainmail,🔗⛓ for protection, get payed, 🪙 💵 by King,👑 Charles the fifth of Granada, Habsburg Spain,🇪🇸 to explore,🗺 colonize, christianize,💒☦ and conquer with Hernan Cortez, Pedro de Alvarado, Cristobal de Olid, and Bernal Diaz, alongside their primitive stone,🪨 age indigenous native american auxiliaries such as the Tlaxcala and the Tarascans, and the West african,🌍 Nigerian,🇳🇬 slaves, against the hostile primitive stone,🪨 age ancient aztec jaguar,🐆 and eagle,🦅 warriors alongside the coyote, 🐺 warrior priests of primitive stone,🪨 age ancient Mexico,🇲🇽 San Salvador, 🇦🇷 and Panama,🇵🇦 led by Emperor Montezuma's successor's lieutenants in the battle,💥 of Otumba, in the year fifteen hundred nineteen to the year of fifteen hundred twenty-one, during the siege,💥 of the primitive stone,🪨 age ancient Mexican,🇲🇽 city,🏙 of Tenochtitlan, in the year of fifteen hundred nineteen to fifteen hundred twenty-one, during the age of exploration,🔭 of the new world,🗺 of the primitive stone,🪨 age ancient mesoamerica, 🇲🇽 🇦🇷 🇵🇦 in the year of fifteen hundred twenty-one to the year of fifteen hundred fifty-three?"
Now we're on an Irish history tangent, Sandrhoman has to do an analysis on the Battle of the Boyne. Only man up to the job
The Battle of Aughrim was even bloodier and more significant from a historical point of view, it was the bloodiest battle ever fought in Ireland or in Britain and involved soldiers from Ireland, Englandc France, the Netherlands and Denmark
@@imperatorscotorum6334 Indeed that is true. I suppose a whole series on the Williamite War which would include both battles would be cool?
What a fascinating history. There is something to be said about a warrior kindred. Youths learning from their more experienced uncles and fathers. What a different time it was. And they too fell before the advent of modernity and the large professional army.
If you're going to the Gallowglass, you'll have to do the kerns and woodkerns next! I dispute this as brave Irishman fighting together against the English - they were just as likely to fight against their fellow Irishmen or with the English.
Yeees!
When John Marston isn't being an outlaw he's a historian on Scottish mercenaries
*Jim Milton.
@@travalerfromthefarwest he's an outlaw In red dead redemption but this man has the same name
Man people are so ready to pick a team from hundreds of years ago instead of just enjoy history
This is good. How about a similar video on Irish armies overall, in the 8th to 13th centuries?
Pike and shot the demise of many professional hand to hand combat mercenary. The democratization of warfare through well trained drills and cheap and easy to learn weapons really changed europe for a long time, thanks Sandrohman for this enlightening video, hope to see more!
Norwegian Scottish and Irish… all mixed together gives us a Galloglas warrior
I’m Irish and this is awesome, I’m from clan Osullivan we fought alongside the Spanish against the English to defend our home castle.
‘American of Irish descent’ more likely
You live in the US don't you.
@@RyanONeill-dy6pc I live in New Zealand 🇳🇿
@@cacamilis8477 Of course he does
@@cacamilis8477 nope
The art style has improved so much!! Congrats
Thanks for this, good content like this is hard to find on Irish history!
The best merc infantry in medieval 2
I bet the descendants of the Galloglass must be very proud of their ancestors.
i hope their ancestors can be proud of their descendants fertility otherwise they have no right to be proud of spoiled non expanded heritage
That's me
@@szymonbaranowski8184 huh?
We are 😊
@@phanties What did he say? His comment is blocked for some reason.
Great work as usual man. Thanks for the insight to more esoteric historical subjects. Your content is always top quality.
Such incredible content! Thank you for making this!
Hope you eventually cover the Almogavars too, they were a Medieval force though so maybe they might not be completely within the scope of the channel but their history in Iberia, Sicily and the Eastern Mediterranean is fascinating.
Almogavars are very interesting. They are one of the few elite shock units in the Middle Ages that did not come from the ancient Indo-European warrior noble background (even the gallowglass were basically just a separate branch on the same tree as knights), instead almogavars came from dispossessed herders who had to infiltrate their old occupied lands to continue their living, which eventually evolved in to a kind of guerilla warfare. All though equipped like light infantry, in open battle almogavars were used as heavy shock infantry, sometimes straight up charging mounted knights.
This is phenomenal! You're research is spot on and the artwork is amazing!
A friend named Andrew is descended from a Galloglass family (6th son of a minor family)
I'm descended from the MacSweeney Galloglaigh(Gallowglass) clan.
@@miklovelva6092 I can’t remember what his clan was named and I’m out of contact with him. All I remember it was a small clan that had about 100 fighters.
McSween? The guys that make the haggis? @@miklovelva6092
I first learned about the Gallowglass from Rome Total War Barbarian Invasion.
Just like how barbarian fraud muhammed did to others
@@Cringemanic123-bm6bm name checks out.
@@TiocfaidhArLa34 what
Beautifuly done as always
The art is so dang good. Thanks for the great vid.
They are pretty tough to kill in the Total War games.
Some fantastic artwork in this video
This is a great documentary of information! Keep these videos coming!
Informative and beautifully done, a great video on a great subject!👍👍
Everything about this video is so cool!
@6:45 I'm just imagining the ghost of some Norse/Scottish/Irish mercenary yelling "IT'S AN AXE!" 🤣
Never heard of these warriors, excellent content as always
I am incredibly excited to see this in my recommended. A really interesting topic in my opinion
Very nice work!
Great video!
Great video, my friend. Very well done and informative. I'll definitely be subscribing.
I really enjoyed this. Thank you and have subscribed!
11:13 They didn't just pretend to fight like mercenaries in Italy often did when facing their colleagues in the field of battle? That seems bit unmercenary-like.
The Irish side of my family allegedly dates back to galloglass mercenaries hired by Irish kings.
great video love your animations!
Perfect video
Thanks - I had been wondering what kerns and galloglasses were since I read the mention of them in Macbeth, long, long ago.
many fought with Spain, and many went on to live in catholic Spain, and continued their military traditions, reaching great power, see Alfredo Kindelan, or Leopoldo O'Donell
Catholic gang rocks!
Leopoldo O'Donnell wasn't descended from Gallowglass.
Excellent video! I'm a bit biased as my direct ancestors are Gallowglass (Clan MacSithigh) but it's pretty rare to find such a well informed and detailed coverage of their history! One thing worth noting is their reason for settling in Ireland: They typically requested plots of land and livestock as payment, so clans coming over to do merc work would be able to settle afterwards (Or at least, their families could).
great video thank you
Henry II was not promised the kingship of Ireland, he was asked for assistance and dragged his feet. When one of his lords, who was very much not in Henry's good books, brought an army to Ireland which Henry II opposed at the last minute, this knight became the king of Leinster through marriage and suddenly a possible rival. Henry II landed with an army in Ireland, his knights offered up their gains and with the backing of the English pope and he declared himself king of the island of Ireland but it would be a long time before any English king could accurately claim to in control of a majority never mind the entire island.
New to your channel, and I enjoyed it.
Love your videos so much
A video about my ancestors and its from SandRhoman! Well this is certainly appreciated.
Very informative 😀 I only knew about them from Total War.
Which one, Britannia?
Very similar to Varangians (predominantly/orignally nordic) in the Byzantine empire.
Great video
A very cool subject, well done.
16th century gallowglass: *has a gun* Also 16th century gallowglass: *uses it as a club*
During the English Civil War this was rather common. Bayonets hadn't been invented yet and often times the two forces would get so close that it was easier to just flip your musket around and club them than to draw your sword. Irish pikemen often carry a long dagger known as a scian instead of a sword for that reason.
Guns only work if you have industry to make bullets and gunpowder
Interesting how there can be so many "most saught after" mercenaries. From Swiss Pikeman, Genoese Crossbowman, Varangian Guard, Black Company, etc...
Haha, I was just about to comment that! I guess it's impossible not to have a _little_ clickbait in your title these days.
Centuries of warfare, millions of men churned through the battlefield. Makes sense that more than a few mercs would rise to the top of the pile.
I think that title is indicating the series of video this is apart of.
@@majorscrub2856 I see, sort of a politically correct "top of the pile" by Committee majority vote, and not literally the single most sought-after, which could only ever be a single recipient...
@@roberterdei8627 One group might also be the most sort after of a period of time, or area, before another takes their place. Similar to how you can have more than one worlds best boxer historically, even if you can only have one at each time. Or how their might be multiple different top teams due to their being different sporting leagues.
I'm glad to finally get some props.
Fair play to ya.
I bet the Galloglass had "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" tattooed on their chest.
One thing I would like to clairfy is about the kerns. The Kerns were professional warriors and had to go through very strict training like spend several month in the wilderness in warbands. The unprofessional soliders or peasant levies were called Bonnaghts. The kerns wore minimum to no armor in order to maximize their speed and stamina. They were design for skirmishing tactics (as you mention) like cattle raiding which was Ireland's main form of warfare. The bonnaghts wore whatever armor they could get their hands on and were used as the front line soldiers and main bulk of large forces. The image at 2:29 is the best representation of a Bonnaght I have ever seen. They were rarely deployed in Ireland as large scale battles were exceptionally rare on the island.
There's a debate if the kerns wore armor, we know they wore a gauntlet on their arm for deflecting blows.
Who does the art for your videos? And great video as always
This was very well done, good job! Cool to see how they operated both in more guerilla warfare contexts, as well as in open battle.
Great Video 👍
Please do an episode on the Kern.
Basically, they were the sort of the Irish's own Normans before the English arrived, and Irish knights without horses.
Nobody likes the normans
excellent stuff
I LOVE your videos. PLEASE MORE
You should do a video on the condottieri. Basically as prolific as the landsknecht but far less information about them.
A good analogy for Gaelic Irish society is the Japanese warring states period, the Gallowglass and Kerns operated in near the exact same way as Samurai and Ninjas.
Yes! And in a sense that Gallowglass & Kerns were the Western European Samurai of the era 1300-1600.
Thanks
Tribe is an amazing read/listen.
Have you ever done a video on the Russian streltsy? If not would you consider doing one? They seem like an interesting discussion point for a video
yeah definitely
There was a bad lot, who came to a bad end.
The Battle of Knockdoe was not the largest battle fought between Irishmen. It took place in Knockdoemore. The hill where the battle took place is named Cnoc Tua Mór in irish which means Hill of the Big Axes after the galloglass that fought there.
Superb video. Could you please make a video on late medieval Sweden and their army? Late medieval Nordic armies please.
Quite good show
Next episode in this series should be on the Clash of Clans barbarians
My grandfather was a mccabe , or Mac cabba , gallowglass
Cool, I actually descend from the MacSweeney Gallowglass
Awesome!
Good video
As an irishman, that loves martial arts, that comes from a family of large athletic men. A little bit of research determined that we were mercenaries that were hired out, not sure if we were gallowglass, but im bot sure that matters lol. t's really interesting to touch up on our family's history.
When the celts moved into the british isles... they spoke about fighting giants to take the land. Wales, ireland and celtic scots definitely look like they intermixed with giants.
Gallowglass were almost all from Norse-Gaelic families, so if yours isnt one, then probably not
You don't sound very Irish in your youtube videos Shane!
@@user-qi5jw2hg1cif that's him in the vids on his channel he's about as Irish as King Charles' balls
I would easily beat you in a fight never mind a war boy
Interesting parallels between them and the Samurai, on another island at the edge of the Eurasian landmass
Mooooore
When he got to the part about the hand gun, I was like "A hand gun?!?!"
First learned about them from medieval total war
EU4
Gallowglass ... My secret weapon in Rome Total War 🤣
Cool video.
Oh traveller, nothing just scrolled down, just window-shopping some mercenaries to hire.
Best unit in medieval 2
dermot mac murrough was widely considered a traitor by the irish from my understanding and rightfully so.
It is great to hear about forgetin irish history
Episode idea, overview on the Men at Arms.
Some of your men at arms appear in multiple videos. It's a sensible thing to do.
Erin go Bragh!
My name Gallagher, Gall was where we get galloglass, we were a royal family that sat at the high table
But an agher is one who lays with sheep, therefore Gallagher is a Gall who fornicates with sheep.