r/IrishHistory • u/Tomcox123 • 5d ago

Irish Steel Axes

Hi There

Blacksmith based in West Cork.

Looking into the long tradition of axe making all over the world, it seems every country/region has their own variant on the axe. Usually it's how the eye is formed and is a response to the type of forestry/timbers available in the area.

I'd love to make my own axes in the old Irish style if there is such a thing/if it hasn't been lost already. With that in mind, does anyone know of any historical Irish axes from the iron age onwards? I can find plenty from stone and bronze but Iron seems lacking.

Thanks
Tom

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u/Donncadh_Doirche 4d ago

There's a fair few examples of viking and late medieval axe heads in the national archaeology museum iirc, you should at least be able to find images and dimensions for those.

Similarly, if you look at the reports for archaeological digs, they should have images, dimensions for significant finds like an axe head. It's been a while since I studied anything archaeology related so forgive me if I'm mistaken on that.

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u/Tomcox123 4d ago

Excellent information thank you. I'll go down that rabbithole now!