In the pre-
Norman days of
Ireland, young warriors who left home to join
warrior cults would often band together, forming groups known as ceithearn, or
warbands. The individual
soldiers, known as ceithearnach, would typically be lightly
armed, and rarely wore
armor of any kind. This would form the template for the island’s native
light infantry for years to come.
After the arrival of the
English, the term became
kern, which could refer to either the lightly armed
mercenary forces in the
region, or the soldiers that made up those forces. In the late
12th century, a kern was a small band of about twenty
mercenaries under an independent
captain. These kerns would travel the countryside looking for employment, intimidating the
peasantry to make ends meet. Over time, kern came to simply mean “
troops”, and referred to the bulk of the
Irish military, particularly those
skirmishers who fought largely unarmored, armed with a
sword and throwing
darts. Paid half of what was earned by foot
archers, the kerns were at their best when set to harassing
civilians,
plundering cattle, and burning houses.
By the late
16th century, English authors described the Irish forces as consisting of kerns, native
cavalry, and
foreign mercenaries known as
Gallowglasses. The latter two groups were well respected by the English. The kerns, however, were not. One author’s
contempt led him to refer to them as “
scum” and “a generation not fit to live”.
On their
helmets and
shields Duna’s
warriours ring
The
hail-storm of
war from the
bow and the
sling.
Nor shun the close conflict–but what may avail
The
kerns’ naked breasts ‘gainst the
knights clad in
mail?
-William Hamilton Drummond, Bruce’s Invasion of Ireland; A Poem 1826