The Archer’s Split Self
A limestone abdomen tightens beneath a carved rib cage; the navel sinks into a hard cup, the chest turns off its axis, the left knee bites the pedimental floor. What form of self comes forward when a hero folds around…
Marcin Malek
The Taut String: Apollo, Artemis, and the Theology of Distance
What kind of theology tightens itself across the small arc between a child’s throat and a god’s relaxed wrist? Along the outer wall of the Louvre krater named from the Niobids, a white rise of ground cuts through black glaze…
Distance and Civic Virtue in Greek Thought
What does an arrow know of the polis that a spear leaves in shadow? I begin with a broken Attic plate from Vulci^1, a shard whose red surface carries a youth turning through the vessel’s curve, one palm resting at…
Portlaoise & County Laois: A Week Beyond the Target Field
Well, dear archers, I thought I might prepare this little travel guide for you and your May visit to our great town of Portlaoise. Portlaoise carries its past with quiet assurance. The town began in the mid-sixteenth century as a…
EIAC 2026–Ethics of Hospitality in Contest
—What flies by consent, strikes by measure, gathers strangers into quiet, then leaves a single hole in the character of its testimony? A clear answer emerged through the organising work behind EIAC 2026 in Waterford. Leadership remained visible, with named…
tIFAM 51
Issue 51 arrives packed with exciting material: shoot reports and a winter-league pictorial from Loch Riach; coverage of the IFAF National Indoor Championships; Mailmatch updates from across the country; and Craigavon’s IFAF double round and single round shoot. A Redfox…
ETO 2027: Ireland Takes Aim
Last Christmas, we had the great pleasure of announcing that ETO 2027 is coming to Ireland—news that fills all of us with real excitement. Ireland now joins the wider TAI family with anticipation and hope, and with pride too: pride…
Farewell to the Archer
Very rarely in our lives do we meet someone who, through their very existence, inspires in us the desire to become better. No one is born with that gift. It demands sacrifice, and it often grows out of difficult—sometimes dramatic—events.…
TIFAM 50 PDF
Issue 50 (January 2026) of TIFAM – The Irish Field Archery Monthly is out, and it’s a landmark one. You’ve got Andrew Wayland’s big “look back at 2025” (with that end-of-year energy and a proper archery-season scan of what mattered),…
TIFAM 49 PDF
TIFAM Issue 49 (Dec 2025) mixes club news, interviews, competition coverage, photo specials, and seasonal fiction: it opens with a Christmas message from the team and features editor Shelly Mooney (historian/artist/writer and longbow archer with Dunbrody Archers, Wexford) plus her…
Holding Focus In Waterford’s Arena
Dear Archers, this time I bring you something a little different, written especially with those of you shooting the IFAA European Indoor Championships in March 2026 in SETU Arena, Waterford in mind; the article “Holding Focus In Waterford’s Arena” is…
Four years of TIFAM in 48 issues
November carries a clear marker for The Irish Field Archery Monthly as Issue 48 completes four uninterrupted years of publication, reflection, and field-bred argument. The magazine stands as a continuous conversation between cold shoots and warm rooms, between physical discipline…
Corridor of Courage
Memento mori opens the late-October syllabus, and dies irae, dies illa gathers vigil air into study. Samhain with All Souls sets a horizon where remembrance carries ethical weight under eschatological pressure. An archer approaches the line and receives a rite…
TIFAM 47 PDF
Field grit and autumn craft run through the issue: a full recap of the IFAF Bowhunter Champs in Killygarry where squalls, open lanes, and long holds turned every shot into a lesson; plus the UAR results from 31 August laid…
Archery Setup Basics: A Beginner’s Dictionary of…
A calm first month comes from a few steady habits. Learn the names of the parts, follow clear steps, and keep short notes after each session. The dictionary below explains the core setup ideas that help every beginner on an…
A basic Guide to Paper Tuning for Beginners
The inquiry is clear and simple: what is paper tuning, and how does a straightforward method on a home-built frame improve the flight of an arrow? A good question, for the true archer seeks efficiency, a clean, certain line between…
Choosing Your First Bow Guide
I came up with the idea to write this article after reading a message on the club’s chat—one of the fellow archers was curious about horse bows and asked for advice. I liked the brief exchange between him and one…
From Kyudo to Clout: Universal Truths in the Way of the Bow.
Dear Readers, this article arose from a need of the spirit and from the shared curiosity of fellow archers who keep asking the same living questions. Two traditions—Japanese kyūdō and European field archery, especially clout—speak to each other through posture,…
Strength in Performance: Gender, Embodiment, and Judith Butler at the Line
The physical discipline of archery begins with stance—applied biomechanics and declaration in one breath. An archer settles the feet, a shade wider than the hips, weight gathered forward so the balls of the feet drink seventy percent of the load.…
Bow Hand Mastery: Art, Science, Soul
Let me begin plain. What follows isn’t a manual, and it isn’t a coaching note. I’ve no wish to stand in front of anyone with a whistle round my neck. I’m not a trainer, and I’ve never been much of…