Celebrating the canine II: the hunt in Medieval Ireland, with special reference to the evidence of Classical Irish poetry

Abstract:This paper investigates the nature of the hunt in Medieval Ireland. It confirms from the evidence of Fianaigecht material backed up by contemporary Classical Irish poetry that the hunt was in the nature of a drive and ambush rather than a chase; that two types of hound were used in the hunt, the gadhair to drive the quarry from its covert and the coin to hem it in by securing the corridor to the ambush site, where the latter were slipped on the quarry; that this practice was common in Scotland as well as in continental Europe at the time; and that the deployment of the hunt was an important part of the training of a young nobleman in Ireland. Crossover material reflecting parallels between hound and hero celebration is also investigated.