OK, they had it tough. But at least they had family, right? Well, yes andno. You know that shillelagh, the Irish blackthorn walking stick which jollyleprechauns used when strolling down country lanes - - - well it actuallywas a murderous weapon used in highly structured, regularly scheduled fightsbetween families, gangs, communities, septs, tribes , or whatever, in whichfights to the death were extremely common occurrences and were participatedin by both men and women

"A study of text-book Irish history will reveal little evidence of clansin Ireland in modern times. Like many of our traditions, the clans' ideawas kept alive among the ordinary people and was of little interest to academicswho ignored it or failed to recognize its existence. The glamour of the clanssurvived in the folk memory, focusing on faction fighters like Sean Mor Hartnettwho is reputed to have squeezed water out of the head of a blackthorn thathad been seasoning for seven years --- a boast worthy of Fionn or Queen Maeve

"As the factions faced one another in lines of battle, some distance apart,the captains advanced into the narrow strip of no-man's -land between them,brandishing their [weapons] and otherwise taunting and insulting their enemies. . . The captains might advance almost to the enemy lines, then wheel leftor right, prancing up and down the lines and generally behaving in a mostprovocative manner. This ritual . . . might last for a quarter hour or longer,to the accom-paniment of the most extraordinary exchange of language by thecaptains. . . ." (Irish Roots, 1993 Number 3)

"In a party fight, a prophetic sense of danger hangs, as it were, over thecrowd - - - the very air is loaded with apprehension; and the vengeance burstis preceded by a close, thick darkness, almost sulphury, that is more terrificalthan the conflict itself, through clearly less dangerous and fatal. The scowlof the opposing par-ties, the blanched cheeks, the knit brows, and the grindingteeth, not pretermitting the deadly gleams that shoot from their kindledeyes, are ornaments which a plain battle between factions cannot boast. .. .

A faction fight has none of this tragic and somber element. The atmosphereis light and comic: Paddy's at home here, all song, dance, good-humor andaffection . . . he tosses his hat in the air, in the height of mirth . .. He is in fact, while under the influence of this heavily afflatus, in lovewith every one, man, woman, and child. If he meets his sweetheart, he willgive here a kiss and a hug, and that with double kindness, because he ison his way to thrash her father or brother. . To be sure, skulls and bonesare broken, and lives lost; but they are lost in pleasant fighting - theyare the consequences of the sport, the beauty of which consists in breakingas many heads as you can." (Daniel J. Casey & Robert E. Rhodes, Viewsof Irish Peasantry, p. 137).

"Faction fighting was a phenomenon unique to nineteenth century Ireland.Factions were armies of country people, numbering hundreds or even thou-sands,armed with sticks and stones, and, occasionally, with swords and guns. Theirbattle grounds were fair greens, market places, race courses and frequentlystreets of towns and villages. Many people were killed and scores woundedin the most famous encounters. The fighting was first reported in 1805 inTipperary and quickly spread to all parts of the country except the North-East.No fair, market, pattern-day or any public gathering was complete withoutits faction fight. In 1836 alone, over 100 faction fights were reported ina single county -- Tipperary.

In 1825 a faction fight took place at Shanagolden, County Limerick --the O'Briens and the MacMahons on one side, the Griffins and Sheehans onthe other. The encounter involved an estimated 500 combatants. After thepreliminary taunts and insults the factions charged. The leaders, wieldingheavy blackthorn sticks, fought in single combat until both lay dead. Thecause of the fight was a jostling of one another by the leaders, KennedyO'Brien and John Sheehan, at a fair earlier in the year.

The granddaddy of all faction fights took place on June 24, 1834, the FeastDay of St. John the Baptist, a Holy Day which traditionally served to commemoratethe occurrence of the longest day of the year, when 3,000 participants, theCoolens on one side, with Lawlors, Blacks and Mulvihills on the other, wentup against each other at Ballyveigh Strand in County Kerry. When the bleedingstopped, 200 were dead. Sure and you bet that they talked about that onefor a long time.

Other reasons for faction fights might be conflicts over non-payment of dowries,fights over succession to property, long-standing grudges or just plainorneriness.

Fights took place between parishes, baronies and gangs, but more significantly,between families. The Keeraghs, Graces, Gows, Hickeys, Hogans, Bawns, Mulvihills,Collinses, Macks, Hartnetts, and McInirys were all well-known factions. TheReaskawallagh faction was nearly all Ryans and took their name from a townlandin the parish of Doon where the Ryan chieftains had lived for generations.

The last recorded faction fight was in Cappawhite, County Tipperary in 1887".(Irish Roots, 1993 Number 3)

Thanks to Ray Marshall for thiscontribution.