Bluebell 2026
Of all the many fine things regarding the Bluebell Shoot, the finest was that the format had been reset from the common mixed affair back to the unmarked and marked rounds. Why there are so many mixed rounds, I don’t…
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A wealth of high-quality articles exploring Irish archery in all its richness—history, philosophy, ethics, technical insights, interviews, and rare profiles of exceptional figures. Featuring top writers, youth contributions, and cultural commentary, this is an open invitation to engage deeply with the spirit, stories, and subtleties of archery in Ireland—freely accessible to all who wish to read, reflect, and be part of the living tradition.
La Draga: Yew, Lake-Mud, and the Neolithic Bowyer’s Hand
What does a 108-centimetre yew bow lifted from Lake Banyoles mud¹ ask us to learn about archery before kings, heraldry, tournaments, or written war? A yew stave, darkened by lake-mud, carries a question heavier than any painted coat of arms.…
Hot tips and handy hints (APRIL 2026)
Mastering the “Parasite”: The Art of Action Meditation You’re on the shooting line. Your heart is hammering against your chest, and your bow arm is vibrating so hard the arrow is nearly jumping off the rest. You aren’t in any…
Archery Challenges – Week 1
Welcome to a new season of archery challenges! At Lough Cuan Bowmen, archers are engaging in a series of unconventional shooting challenges for prizes of myth. Each week – more or less – archers can endeavour to win an arrow…
Bowhunter – Chapter 5
The Mane, The Unclaimed Waters between Fohalin and Nauberta – Typhon Resurgence, Day 17 Of all the myths within the great ocean between The Mane and The Sigel, tales of the Daemon Flamingo refused to age or even convolute themselves…
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…
A Lego Guide to 3D Archery
For those Unfamiliar with 3D Archery, or those who just like a bit of Lego:
Shamrock 2026
How did the shamrock come about as an Irish symbol? The fact that Ballyvally Archers’ Shamrock Shoot comes in March is rather apt, as it was Saint Patrick who taught of the Holy Trinity using a shamrock. And whilst this…
Feather Splicing – A Simple Guide
For some, arrows are simply a tool, perhaps even overlooked. Something for throwing at the target and nothing more. Why would anyone labour over an arrow’s aesthetics? Well, when I began as a traditional archer, a seasoned trad shooter and…
The Wound That Knows: Teresa’s Flaming Shaft and the Theology of the Body
What does Teresa’s transverberation reveal about embodied theology? I read chapter 29 of the Vida as an account of knowledge entering the creature through injury, motion, heat, cry, and aftermath. The famous angel with the flaming shaft does not ornament…
The Forest God and the Forbidden Zone
The Forest God and the Forbidden Zone A red elk breaks through cedar shadow with a prince upon its back, each hoof striking root and loam with the grave insistence of blood borne under oath, while, in another cinematic country…
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…
Bowhunter – Chapter 4
The Mane, Huzken (The Venom State), City Capital Lajo – Typhon Resurgence, Day 15 Despite the disaster that was the culling contract in Vrenki, it was good to be back home, Fergus thought. For one thing they had made a…
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…
Bowhunter – Chapter 3
Chapter 3 of Bowhunter
Injury Prevention
The Acromion Divot A Movement-Based Approach to the Bow Shoulder A Perspective on Movement I want to start by saying that I am not an archery coach, and I am under no delusion that I am. What I do have,…
The Seam of Chastity
Lecture on Houdon’s Louvre Diane, where toe-balance and a crescent seam make chastity a crafted law. What runs on a single toe yet makes your own feet grow heavy; what bares a body yet tightens a law; what offers a…
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.…
Aiming Makes Souls Wander.
What travelled farther: the bolt that left the string, or the hand that held the string and trembled, deciding, for a heartbeat, whether mercy had any jurisdiction over hunger? Quid longius it: telum an animus? A question suited to a…
You Are a Spring Under Tension
In archery, the follow-through is arguably more critical than in golf or tennis, because the “engine” of the shot is the tension in your own body. While the arrow leaves the bow quickly, any collapse or movement at the moment…