Hand made museum quality Irish sword.
Designed by John Barnett
IRISH SHORT SWORD
The short sword was the perfect secondary weapon for the Irish Gallowglass who fought with their great two-handed swords and backed up with their lightly armed retainers known as the Kern achieved distinction in the mid 1500s as ferocious mercenary fighters .
The chief advantage of a short sword was that in really close fighting such as that on a battle field it was much easier and lighter to wield a short sword rather than a large two-handed type which was of more use at the outset of the battle .
Irish short swords display distinctive features found only on Irish swords, such as hollow ring pommels through which the sword tang can clearly be seen and a cruciform shaped guards are often decorated with a cut out "E" shape or some other feature .
Light , versatile and handy to draw out of the scabbard, if not as impressive as its larger two-handed cousin .
All swords in the John Barnett collection have EN45 sprung steel blades and guard and pommel pieces are always in steel unless brass or bronze are specified,hand grips are of oak wood over very broad strong tangs
The John Barnett collection are all museum quality pieces with their own distinct look and feel.
89 cm (35") long ,19 cm (7 1/2") hilt
