My favourite competition of the year! The Mulligan Hunting Trails! Knee deep in ferns and thorns, the perils of inattentiveness, and missing a target isn’t the same as missing a target. This year we were up against the best competition…
Why does an arrow that leaves the bow with a clean report begin to plane left or right before it meets the mark? I set that question beside a scarred ash shaft on my kitchen table; the pile had cut…
What does a long outdoor shoot truly test once the arrow leaves the fingers: aim alone, or a whole body kept in pact with weather, food, ground, recovery, patience? A wet scorecard asks that question better than any lecture hall.…
What should an archer do with the arrow that has already gone wrong, while the next one lies cold against the fingers? A cedar shaft sits high in the grass beyond the boss, its fletching tilted like a wounded bird.…
What happens to an archer in the last walk to the peg, when the shot has already entered the pulse before the bow rises? The peg looks small enough to vanish beneath a boot heel, yet it governs a whole…
What does a scorecard do to friendship when one archer’s arrow cuts closer to the centre than mine? The card looks slight enough, a crease in rain-soft paper, thumb grease along one edge, pencil dust in the boxes where names…
For those Unfamiliar with 3D Archery, or those who just like a bit of Lego:
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…
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…
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…
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…
Whilst it is close to Halloween, I would remind the reader, and archer, that zombies, the undead, however you refer to them, are not a seasonal problem. Just as much as a dog is just not for Christmas, a zombie…
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…
Knowledge gathers in the hands first. Before theory spreads its mesh, the body enters an agreement with wood, string, air, and ground. A seasoned yew settles into the palm with a weight that carries memory; cool grain moves under the…
In This Month’s TIFAM: Gold Medals, Political Philosophy Through the archer’s scope, and a Trip Through the Woods The September 2025 collector’s edition of TIFAM is here, packed with tournament triumphs, deep dives into history and philosophy, and stories from…
Once a year, Ballyvally Archers hosts a singular type of competition that exemplifies the enjoyment found in the sport: the Mulligan Hunting Trail. Whilst hunting Frank Mulligan is not the aim of the competition – and just as well as,…
For many of the past eleven years, I have been making my own arrows. This skill has developed little by little over time, as I read various articles, and listened to what other traditional archers had to say. Whilst it…
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Archer Margaret Donnelly gives us a sporting insight into the life of her Dunbrody club mate and WBHC 2025 Bronze medallist Catherine Power From: The Rower Co. Kilkenny Club: Dunbrody Archers Shooting style: Bowhunter Recurve World Bowhunter Championships 2025 South…
