Episode 1.5: Irish Collar and Elbow Remastered

As the modern revival of the Irish national wrestling style continues, it’s time to lay old myths to rest.

To mark the 2-year anniversary of The Hero with a Thousand Holds, I’ve re-written and re-recorded the very first episode, on the subject of Irish Collar and Elbow. Not only to enhance the story with newfound historical discoveries, but to vigorously dispute one particular source (Charles Wilson’s “The Magnificent Scufflers”) that has unfortunately led to the spread of many misconceptions about the style over the years.

Most meaningfully of all, thanks to the truly staggering amount of interest that has arisen in Collar and Elbow over the past two years, we can now end on a much more revolutionary note than before…

Also available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify

Reading List:

  • “Athletic Jottings: Tailteann Topics: Notes.” Sport, 18 March 1922, p. 15.
  • An Roinn Oideachais. Téarmaí Cluichidheachta. Irish Dept. of Education, 1900.
  • Armstrong, Walter. Wrestling. Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1890.
  • Co. Kildare Online Electronic History Journal. 2006. Famous Kildare Wrestling, Ancient Gaelic Style of Collar and Elbow: How Kildare Exiles Carried the Game Abroad. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.kildare.ie/ehistory/2006/05/collar_and_elbow_wrestling.asp. [Accessed 15 November 2025].
  • “Collar and Elbow: A Wrestling Match in the Mines of California on New Year’s Day.” The Northern Pacific Farmer, 27 Jan 1881, p. 3.
  • Cronin, Mike. “Projecting the Nation through Sport and Culture: Ireland, Aonach Tailteann and the Irish Free State, 1924-32.” Journal of Contemporary History, vol. 38, no. 3, 2003, pp. 395–411. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3180644.
  • Fagan, Brian M. The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History 1300-1850. Perseus Book Group, 2002.
  • Gallagher, Edward Clark. Amateur Wrestling. Co-Operative Publishing Co., 1925.
  • Gallagher, Edward Clark. Wrestling. A.S. Barnes and Company, 1939.
  • Gregory, Augusta. Cuchulain of Muirthemne: The Story of the Men of the Red Brand of Ulster. Colin Limited, 1973.
  • Gunning, Paul Ignatius. “Hardy Fingallians, Kildare Trippers, and ‘The Divil Ye’ll Rise’ Scufflers: Wrestling in Modern Ireland.” A Social and Cultural History of Sport in Ireland, pp. 110-121, 2016
  • Hatton, Nathan. Thrashing Seasons: Sporting Culture in Manitoba and the Genesis of Prairie Wrestling. University of Manitoba Press, 2016.
  • “Irish Style of Wrestling.” Sunday Independent, 19 March 1911, p. 5.
  • James, Ed. Manual of Sporting Rules: Comprising the Latest and Best Authenticated Revised Rules. Ed James (self-pub.), 1873.
  • Kelly, Richard J. “An Introduction to the Context of Early and Medieval Irish Poetry.” The Harp, vol. 10, 1995, pp. 14–23. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20533350.
  • MacAlister, R.A Stewart. Lebor Gabala Érenn: The Book of the Taking of Ireland (5 Vols). Irish Texts Society, 1932-1942.
  • MacLysaght, Edward. Irish Life in the Seventeenth Century. Irish Academic Press, 1979.
  • Mitchel, John. The Last Conquest of Ireland (Perhaps). R&T Washbourne Ltd., 1882.
  • Molloy, Maura. One Tailteann Week: A Chronicle of the Games in Ancient Times. Dundalgan Press, 1900.
  • Morrow, Charles W. The Magnificent Scufflers: Revealing the Great Days When America Wrestled the World. The Stephen Green Press, 1959
  • Nally, Thomas H., Aonach Tailteann or Tailteann Games: Their Origin, History, and Ancient Associations. The Talbot Press Limited, 1922(?).
  • O’Rahilly, Cecile (ed.). Táin Bó Cúailnge from the Book of Leinster. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1970.
  • O’Reilly, Edward. An Irish-English Dictionary. James Duffy & Co. Limited, 1864
  • Owenson, Sydney (Lady Morgan). The Wild Irish Girl: A National Tale. Oxford World Classics, 1999.
  • “R. Edgar(?)’s Column.” The Evening World , 20 June 1916, p. 14.
  • Sayers, William. “The Motif of Wrestling in Early Irish and Mongolian Epic.” Mongolian Studies, vol. 13, 1990, pp. 153–168. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43193128.
  • Sullivan, James Edward. Spalding’s Official Sporting Rules. American Sports Publishing, 1894.
  • “The Champion Belt of the World for Collar and Elbow Wrestling, at Issue Between J.H. McLaughlin of Seattle, Wash. and John J. Benjamin of New York City.” The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 23 Nov 1897, p. 5.
  • “The Fall of Wrestling.” Irish Independent, 2 May 1906, p. 4.
  • Whitcomb, John. “Old-Timers Remember Days When Collar, Elbow Wrestling Popular.” The Burlington Free Press, 29 Aug 1967, p. 15.
  • “Wrestling Notes.” The Boston Globe, 1 Dec 1878, p. 8.
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