Irish martial arts

There are a number of traditional martial arts styles native to Ireland.

The Irish language term for "martial arts" is ealaíona comhraic.

Traditional styles include Dornálaíocht (boxing), Coraíocht (wrestling), Speachóireacht (kicking), and Batadóireacht (stick fighting).

Dornálaíocht is the Irish word for boxing, dorn meaning fist.

The Irish are well known for their bare-knuckle boxing style. Dornálaíocht's stance is often reflected in Irish caricatures such as that of the Notre Dame Leprechaun. The lead hand stays at a greater distance from the body than done in modern boxing. The lead arm's shoulder stays tight against the jaw while the other arm is tucked tightly to the body, using its fist to guard the jaw. This is due to the bare-knuckle nature of the style.

Without large boxing gloves, it is not recommended to tuck and cover up from an assault. Instead, the lead hand is used to block the incoming attack while side stepping and back stepping to create an angle or swaying the torso away from or towards the opponent. The more distantly placed lead hand is also used to more easily obtain a single collar clinch, so that another valued aspect of Dornálaíocht can then be employed: dirty boxing. In Irish martial arts, dirty boxing is very effective for striking but is also used to set up many grappling-based attacks from collar-and-elbow. In Irish-American schools, Dornálaíocht is sometimes referred to as "Irish Boxing", "Irish Scrapping", or "Scrapping".

Radio Telefís Éireann's Prime Time, which discusses Irish related social and political problems, had an hour-long documentary on the Irish Travellers and also their bare knuckle boxing heritage.

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