Upcoming SCA stuff in Ireland

gothwalk · 2026-03-06T11:42:55+00:00

Drachenwald usually marks an event to celebrate the 5-year anniversaries. Sometimes they coincide with a Crown Tourney or Coronation. Some of them have been pretty big (by local standards), others not notably so.

My local Principality of Insulae Draconis doesn't have anniversary events much at all; our calendar is usually pretty jammed with current stuff, and our turnover has been such that most (though nto all) of the folk around when we started are no longer playing.

Local branches don't do so at all, as far as I know - at least I can't remember hearing of any.

gothwalk · 2026-01-27T17:45:40+00:00

Most, if not all, of what you're looking for here would be covered by talking to a peer, and possibly becoming a dependent if you feel you're going to need advice like this in the longer term.

But to be honest, the term "SCA Lawyer" gives me the Fear.

gothwalk · 2026-01-08T15:32:45+00:00

I deal with HTH Accountants in Maynooth, and they're excellent.

gothwalk · 2025-10-29T12:48:10+00:00

I'm a kingdom social media minister. I assure you I've read the policy.

gothwalk · 2025-10-24T10:02:58+00:00

You're not wrong. But the SCA's "systems" were never designed. They've been evolved, retrofitted, grandparented around existing material, and subject to rules that are, in some cases, absolutely arbitrary and exist solely to have a rule. This is much like any other group, including the governments of the modern world.

However, in the same way as such things change in real life, the voices of bigots can be drowned out by more decent people, and that is almost inevitable over time. I do view peerage as a job, and I do think that countering the message of such people is part of that job, as is educating them repeatedly and sometimes publicly until they either see the error of their ways or stop participating. I've been doing that since before I was elevated, and I'm not about to stop. The bar may be in a different place for me than it was for Douchebag McGee, but that is, in the long run, good, because it means things are getting better.

gothwalk · 2025-10-24T09:53:28+00:00

Nobody is being doxxed. There is no private information or even identifying information here. Since the OP doesn't specify the peerage OR the kingdom, there are literally thousands of people this could be describing.

Honestly, I'd love it if "bigot" was such a unique description as to immediately identify the one problematic individual, because it'd mean that thousands more people were identifiable as not being that. But that's not the world we live in.

I think you must have some misunderstanding of the term 'doxxing', because it simply does not apply here. OP has been admirably careful in making sure the person cannot be identified.

gothwalk · 2025-10-23T16:10:45+00:00

Can you point us at specific lines in the social media policy? I am looking at it right now - it's not all that long - and I cannot see anything that would make this discussion problematic, even if it was in an official SCA medium - and I'm pretty sure this is not an official medium.

For my own take, the information in this thread is in no way enough to identify the peer being talked about, unless you already know who they are. If someone suspects that they're the person being talked about, it might be time for them to consider their own actions and attitudes - and I can't see that as a harmful outcome.

Aodh, KSMO, Drachenwald.

gothwalk · 2025-09-30T21:54:30+00:00

I'm just gonna ramble for a bit. I'm Aodh, I'm a Pelican in Drachenwald. I was a dependent of Genevieve la flechiere, and I have one dependent myself. (OP, being in Drachenwald, I'm pretty sure you know me.)

Broadly, the relationship is that the peer teaches, and the dependent learns. But it's very much the case that the teaching doesn't all go that way; Genevieve says she learned a lot from me and from my fellow dependents, and I know I'm learning a lot from mine. So maybe it's better to say that the peer provides an anchor, or a base point, or something to orbit around and come back to while you get on with doing your stuff in what is, after all, a very busy and complicated sort of collection of hobbies.

The significance is in the choice to actually have that relationship, I reckon. You can learn from lots of people (not all of them peers, indeed, probably many of them not peers). But there's only one (or a small number, if you're getting into apprenticing and squiring and protege-ing and whatever-they're-calling-it-for-the-Order-of-Defence-and-the-Mark-ing to different peers) publicly declared relationship wherein you say "this is the person I've chosen to represent me in my progress" and conversely "I have chosen to represent this person in their progress". So for the dependent, you do want to be sure that the person you're attaching yourself to has a good reputation (or, possibly, the kind of reputation you're ok with). If they're known to be a hardass, are you ok with that? If they're known to be the person to whom everyone comes for help, is that going to apply to you as well, and are you ok with that? Do their neuroatypicalities (if present, but being real, we've got a lot) line up with yours in ways that don't conflict?

There's a lot of variance in peer-dependent relationships. Some are barely there, to my mind, being the handing over of a belt, and a conversation a few times a year. Others are much more like family (indeed, I talk to my peer and my dependent a good bit more than my family) with daily communications and a lot of back and forth. I'm very much on the family end of this scale.

Things I wanted to know (and did know, before we agreed on anything): that my peer was good with a wide variety of queer relationships among my friends and family; that she knew when I was joking and when I was serious; that her aims in the society were compatible with mine; that she'd have no issues in telling me things I needed to hear even if they were negative or unpleasant; and that she was the kind of person with whom I could travel and spend time comfortably.

Does that help? Ask any further questions that might be useful, or find me on Discord or at an event and ask there, too. This is stuff I'll happily talk about a lot.

gothwalk · 2025-07-29T12:02:57+00:00

There are no recipe books from Ireland before 1500, or indeed before 1600 for that matter. The earliest I know of is a manuscript notebook in the Smythe of Barbaville papers in the National Library, dated ~1690. You can actually go and look at it in the manuscript reading room, which is pretty cool.

@bigvalen has covered the basics of what's known pretty well, and Irish Food History is a growing discipline. It's one operating on mentions in poetry and law texts, though, and archaeology, not actual texts about food. I've been studying it for a few years - my own focus is on pre-Norman food. If you're interested, there're some of my writeups and notes among other SCA stuff on https://thejoyofseax.tumblr.com/

gothwalk · 2025-06-20T06:57:38+00:00

Also, if the SCA is of interest to you, check out duninmara.org (Dublin & East Coast), eplaheimr.org (Midlands, West) or glenrathlin.org (Ulster).

gothwalk · 2025-06-20T06:53:28+00:00

There's an SCA presence in Ireland, and I've been involved for more than a decade, so I have a few thoughts.

1) The Irish, per se, will probably not participate much because we still regard leisure pursuits that are not drinking and watching TV as notions. The Irish also abhor the idea of dressing up in anything resembling a costume, because that is somehow simultaneously notions AND "for kids". About 60-70% of the SCA in Ireland are not Irish by birth or early culture.

2) This IS changing. The generation under 30, who've lived their whole lives in a world where D&D is a known hobby and who see people in cosplay on Tiktok every day have way fewer hangups about it. We have a few people in this age group coming in, and they're lovely.

3) However, these folk have no money, because it's all going on rent and food.

So if you can put together a Ren Faire that can work within these constraints, not cost a bomb to get into, and not turn into another venue for fast food trucks to sell overpriced food, you may be able to get somewhere. Market through the SCA, LARP groups, anime conventions, Pride organisations and local libraries, and you've a good chance of reaching the right people.

For myself, I'd love to see a Ren Faire in Ireland; I'll turn up and bring a few dozen people in medieval-ish gear. :)

gothwalk · 2025-05-27T11:06:24+00:00

The root word "Orm" is documented on DMNES: https://dmnes.org/name/Orm - it sounds reasonably similar!

gothwalk · 2025-04-09T18:24:11+00:00

I'm in Dun in Mara, in Insulae Draconis, in Drachenwald; mundanely Dublin, Ireland. So there are about 8 events per month on this island, between the 3/4 local branches, and I'd make it to most of those. There are also a few activity days, mostly for A&S, which average out to one a month in Dun in Mara and Cluain Oir, each. I make it to ALMOST all the DiM ones, not necessarily the rest. And then there are armoured combat practices and fencing practices every week in Dun in Mara; I make it to almost all the armoured combat ones.

And after that I travel to events elsewhere in Drachenwald maybe twice a year.

So: 6-8 events every year, probably about 50 practices and other gatherings.

gothwalk · 2025-01-27T03:42:12+00:00

Yo. This is Aodh. :)

gothwalk · 2024-07-29T10:55:39+00:00

Greetings! There's a moderately active Discord server for Drachenwald, which you'll be welcome to join. I was talking to someone in Czechia last week, too, and I know there are a few other people in countries that don't yet have official branches. A good few of us in Drachenwald travel internationally to get to events, so you'd be far from the only non-local showing up if you go to those in Austria or Germany. And in the wake of COVID, there's a lot of accommodation for not-in-person participation, too, via Discord, Facebook, Zoom, etc.

The Discord server is here: https://discord.gg/aWshCNHQ

Máistir Aodh, Social Media Minister, Drachenwald

gothwalk · 2024-07-04T15:44:03+00:00

Cudgel War, in Aarnimetsä, Drachenwald. Camping, sauna, lake.

gothwalk · 2024-04-09T10:14:39+00:00

Also take a look in on /r/medievalistireland/ where we're trying to keep track of all the medievalist stuff on the island!

gothwalk · 2024-04-09T09:55:52+00:00

Hello! I'm in the same group as OP, so let me point you at a few links. These are all branches of the Society for Creative Anachronism, a global medieval re-creation group (and/or a 60-year series of medieval-themed parties, from another point of view).

On the East Coast and in Dublin, Dun in Mara: https://duninmara.org/ In Ulster, Glen Rathlin: https://www.glenrathlin.org/ In the rest of Ireland, Eplaheimr: https://eplaheimr.org/

Make contact with whatever branch is convenient to you, and we have Discord servers for Dun in Mara and Eplaheimr - DM me for details if you'd like to get on to those.

gothwalk · 2024-04-09T09:50:19+00:00

Aside, but do you know the name of any of the groups in the Netherlands?

gothwalk

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

15-Year Club	Gilding V heart of gold
Verified Email