To the English, Ireland was one of the frontiers of Europe, a land on the edge of civilisation, full of barbarians. It is little surprise, then, that Queen Elizabeth I’s courtiers observed Shane O’Neill’s retainers with ‘as much wonder as if they had come from China or America’, according to a contemporary chronicler. Indeed, the Irish party, headed by The O’Neill, self-proclaimed ruler of Ulster in northern Ireland, presented a fantastic sight when they arrived in London in 1562.
In defiance of Tudor legislation, O’Neill’s warriors were wholly Gaelic in appearance. Their hair was long – fringes hanging down to cover their eyes. They wore shirts with large sleeves dyed with saffron, short tunics, and shaggy cloaks. Some walked in bare feet, others wore leather sandals. The elite Scots mercenary galloglas carried battle-axes and wore long coats of mail.
O’Neill was himself a man of fearsome reputation who could not abide anything English. He is said to have hanged a warrior for eating an English biscuit, and called a stronghold Fuath-na-Gall – ‘Hatred of Englishmen’.
