a whisper in the dark
You think you understand violence. You think you’ve seen it, measured it, weighed it in your hands like something you could master, something that bends to the will of the wielder. You think a weapon is just a tool. But…
Category TIFAM Archive
An archer’s spindle of literature Column
I first stumbled upon Irish Celtic mythology when I was a lad of fourteen, a scrawny thing with a wild imagination and a stubborn curiosity for the unknown. It was my older sister who planted the seed, gifting me a…...
Autism in Archery – Jessica Burcow
Welcome to a new series where I interview autistic archers about our experiences within archery. The goal here is to better inform people of our condition and needs within the sport. Furthermore, there will find plenty for those of us…
Thorgal – precision, restraint and choice.
The trade was small, insignificant in the grand scheme of things. A childhood barter, some scrap of possession given away for something else, though the details are long since swallowed by the tides of memory. I don’t remember what I…
John the blind – The King’s last charge
“The king, his heart resolute, called upon his knights, ‘Where is my son, Charles?’ They replied, ‘Sire, we know not; we believe he fights on.’ Then he declared, ‘Loyal companions, lead me into the fray, that I may strike but…...
Hook Lighthouse archery tradition
Date: 01-01-2025 time 13:00 Place: Hook Lighthouse Co. Wexford The annual arrow ceremony took place on January 1st at Europe’s oldest lighthouse. For umpteen years now, archers from the local Dunbrody club have participated in this age old tradition. This…...
“Field Ready” outdoor Column
The wind shifted. That peculiar scent of damp earth, wood smoke, and the first stirrings of green rising from winter’s quiet breath. The hedgerows outside my window whispered of coming rain, the kind that soaks slow and steady, not in…...
Andrew’s 20 questions – #26 michael hambly
Now this month we feature an absolute gentleman,… such a kind, thoughtful, considerate and lovely guy all round. he is one of the stalwarts of the great mayo archery club and always has a word of welcome and a smile…...
Smack my controversy Column
James Byrne column
Hachiman: The God of War and Archery
The story arrived as many others do, cloaked in the smoky haze of memory and the eccentric cadence of a teller who half-believes the story they’re telling. Dim, my father’s driver, was the one who first mentioned Hachiman. I could…...
On weather phenomena and archery
As I start to write this article it is 1am on Jan 24th 2025 as the much anticipated and dreaded storm Eowyn is raging outside and I am wondering how bad it will be over the next 10 hours .…...
The Archer’s Mark – An Interview with Nick Anton
Good day, Nick, and welcome to our new interview series, The Archer’s Mark, which will be published every month in print and online. First off, thanks for taking the time to chat. I have to admit, once I got started…...
Draw, Aim, Endure
IFAF Indoor National championship 2025 Saturday morning, and the gods had decided to be kind. No rain, no howling winds, just an uncharacteristically mild February air settling over Waterford like a held breath. Eight degrees Celsius, but let’s leave Anders…
Archers Talkin’ Archery – Michael White
More quick interviews with archers here in the north and elsewhere. Archers Talkin' Archery is back!
Archers Talkin’ Archery – Renee McDowell
More quick interviews with archers here in the north and elsewhere. Archers Talkin' Archery is back!
American Bowyers
A bow is born long before the first curl of wood makes its way to the ground before the rasp makes the first bite into the grain or the sinew begins to hum against the frame that is slowly taking shape.…
Tracing the Path: Indigenous Odyssey
“The bow whispers to the archer: trust the wind, trust the arrow, trust yourself.” There’s a certain quiet to the past, a hush that lingers in old things—tools, stories, hands that remember what the world once was. Some things don’t…
Primeval and Forsaken
A film review of frontier brutality, archery, and the quiet horror of survival. There’s something primal about the way American Primeval treats archery—something that strips it of romance, of the quiet elegance we might have once attributed to it in…
When Heroes Fade
There’s a curious thing about homecomings. They aren’t quite what we imagine them to be, are they? A man sets out, faces the tempests of the world, and dreams of the day he will step across the threshold of home,…