A Galloglass & his Kern attendants- 1562

Pricing:  $85 USD SRP per set Features: - white metal - hand painted - historically accurate Delivery: In Stock

It is the 4th of January 1562 and Shane O’Neill, The O’Neill of Ulster, is in London, appearing before Queen Elizabeth, arguing the case for his overlordship of Ulster. To help press home his claim one of his strata gems is his appearance, and that of his followers, in traditional Irish dress. This behaviour is so exotic in Elizabethan London that it prompts an English observer to remark that they appear as if they came from China or America’.

The Gallowglass were the pre-eminent Irish professional soldiers of their time providing the heavy infantry of Irish armies. Traditionally recruited from clans of Scots and Norse origin they provided the core of Irish armies for nearly 300 years, finally disappearing from the battlefield in 1610. Even by 1562 their equipment harked back to an earlier age and their tactical importance was being undermined by firearms and pikes though they still cut a martial and imposing figure in their mail hauberks, carrying their primary weapon, a fearsome two handed axe. No Irish lord was without them in his retinue and they also served in the English armies of the Low Countries. They numbered in their many thousand even at this late date of their history.

This set represents a Galloglass in his war gear of hauberk, helmet, quilted cotun, sword and axe and his two kern attendants, all in their colourful saffron dyed and seemingly anachronistic costume.

Each set consists of three crafted and hand painted models. Please use the links on the left of the screen to view each set, with images and artwork of each piece. Coming soon are four more unique soldier sets to add to The Warrior Irish models. Please make sure you check back here often, as new sets will continually be added.

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