Written by Suzy Cantrell |

HEMA in Ireland is quite young, especially when compared with other countries such as the United Kingdom and Sweden. There have been individuals attending various events over the years but it wasn’t really until 2011 when a group of us went over to FightCamp that we decided we really wanted to get things established. Myself and my friends had all been involved in reenactment for several years by this point and grown a little bit complacent with the combat within it. Our group had always been quite small and as a result we tended to favour one-on-one fights, which didn’t always fit with the larger reenactment events we went to. HEMA seemed to very much satisfy that and from that event we were hooked.

It took several gruelling meetings with other HEMA groups that we found around the country where we hammered out the fundamental points of what we would need, all while drinking insane amounts of tea, the tea was the important part since we’re Irish. (Go and watch Father Ted if you don’t believe me). People travelled from all over Ireland and over the course of several trips to tea houses we discovered that we all had similar dreams and ideas on how to progress things. Neil Byrne began as the first President of HEMA Ireland with Mike Prendergast as Secretary and Adam Duggan as Treasurer. Neil Byrne and Matthew Malcom were the first to become certified as HEMA instructors in England and have since been helping the other clubs reach a high standard of coaching and safety. As of now there are several clubs scattered throughout the country in or close to the major cities in Ireland so if you’re visiting there will be a club near enough to you.

We try to run regular tournaments, sparring weekends and workshops in various places around the country and invite everyone along. All of us are friends and whenever anyone organises anything, we all try to be as supportive as possible. Regardless of how long anyone has been running their club, everyone in Ireland still tends to consider themselves to be beginners, especially when at events in other countries with longer HEMA traditions. However some people have been beginners for five years or more! In workshops everyone always likes to stress that whatever they are demonstrating in a particular play is merely their interpretation, but not necessarily THE ONE TRUE WAY.

Speaking with other clubs in different countries, people always seem surprised and describe the Irish HEMA scene as being “so well organised” for such a young group of clubs, but honestly I think this is simply because the people at the forefront trying to establish HEMA in Ireland looked to the countries with older HEMA communities and robbed all their best ideas drew inspiration from them.

One benefit of having such a small community is that all of us know each other well and also  know that if one club falls out with another club, they suddenly lose a significant number of people they can spar with and learn from. Ten people may not seem like a large number but in a pool of approximately 100 people, every single person counts.

Something I have always been proud of is our sportsmanship. Most, if not all fighters will call shots on themselves in a tournament, even if it costs them points or an opportunity for a medal. It can, however, lead to the following situation:

JUDGE:  Hit! Point, Red.

RED:  Oh no, I got hit as well.

BLUE:  Did I hit you? It was barely a tap though!

RED: No, you definitely hit me.

JUDGE: Yes, but it was flat and out of tempo, so point, Red.

RED: But ….. But….

JUDGE:  Go back to your corner and take your damn points.

Unfortunately I am currently the only woman in my club and while we did have another woman last year she sadly had to go home to Australia. In my experience all the clubs have been extremely inclusive and have strived for equality and every time we meet we always hug it out. Thankfully I am not the only woman in HEMA in Ireland, however, and each year at our main event Féile Na Gaiscígh (translated it means Festival of Warriors in Irish) there is a Women’s Longsword Tournament which has always had enthusiastic participants. I’m not being subtle about plugging this event by the way, you should go because it’s awesome. It takes place in an old seminary college on the north side of Dublin, and is full of wonderful workshops, in traditions such as 1.33 Sword and Buckler and Lecküchner’s Messer, as well as a variety of tournaments. Don’t worry we will warn them next year in advance so they don’t run out of craft beer or good whiskey, I promise. And each year we’re always really happy to see more people. While at foreign events I have had men comment that they don’t feel comfortable fighting women as they aren’t used to it but thankfully that has never once happened in Ireland. Truthfully, I’m not used to fighting women either so we have that much in common. Sure it’ll be grand!

Actually that’s our attitude to everything. I think the worst argument I personally have ever seen was over what colour jacket we wanted people to have. Green is often the colour most associated with Ireland, but historically the colour has actually been blue as the ancient flag for the country was a gold harp on a blue field. I think that’s the most contentious thing we’ve had to deal with so far in the approximately four years HEMA Ireland has been active!

 

 

The views expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily the views of Esfinges.