Cross of Cong: Commissioned by King Turlough O'Connor in the 'High-Kings w/ opposition' period to gain a cultural edge over rival kingdoms.

The flowering of 11/12thC. Irish #art was partly due to its sponsorship by provincial kings, as they competed for regal & moral authority.

"By this cross is covered the cross on which the creator of the world suffered." - Innoscription on the cross of Cong. #TrueCross #Shrine.

Cong Abbey, #Mayo - from where the cross of Cong takes its name. The last High King, Rory O'Connor, lived the last years of his life here.

Rory O'Connor: "King of Connacht & Ireland, both the Irish & English, died after exemplary penance, victorious over the world & the devil."

The ruins of Cong Abbey, Co #Mayo - The last High King once walked these #Gothic halls, and prayed for Éire, amid its holy walls.

The #Gallowglass were elite mercenary warriors descended from the Irish invaders of Scotland. Active in many European armies in the 13-17thC

One of the signature weapons of the Gallowglass was the Highland 'Claíomh Mór', or #Claymore; a heavy two handed great-sword.

Hardened by centuries of warfare in #Scotland, Gallowglass clans returned to Ireland 13thC, where they pushed back & stalemated the Normans.

Surnames of Gallowglass ancestry incl. McCabe, McDonald, Sweeney & McDowell. The McCabe family motto: 'Either to conquer or to die'.

The word 'Scot' originally refers to Irish people & Gaelic invaders of #Scotland. Boru was called 'Imperator Scottorum': Irish Emperor.

Tomb effigy of Cooey-na-Gall O'Cahan (†1385) surrounded by his loyal Gallowglass warriors, Co #Derry. His name means 'Terror of the Norman'.

The Gallowglass was an Irish equivalent of the Samurai warrior: His loyalties were hereditary in nature, his honour belonged to the clan.

The five-foot-long Sparth axe was the primary weapon used by the Gallowglass. Employed in axe-wall formation it stopped Norman cavalry cold.

Felim O'Connor, reigned as the king of Connacht, 1233–65. Eight of his Gallowglass soldiers keep vigil at his tomb-effigy, Co #Roscommon.

'Gaelic society in Ireland and Scotland encouraged a particularly strong martial ethos.. the retaining of Gallowglass was nurtured by lords'

Knockdoe, site of the bloodiest battle in Irish medieval history. It means 'Hill of the Axes' due to the vast number of Gallowglas who died.

Many Icelanders look very much like Irish people, as almost half of Icelanders originally came from Ireland/Scotland as bondsmen. Examples: