The first in a series of podcasts looking at some of the obscure folk-wrestling styles from around the world. This one explores the ancient and now sadly forgotten art of Irish collar & elbow - a style with origins in Ireland’s distant pre-Christian past that eventually crossed the Atlantic and for a while reigned as the most popular sport in America before disappearing entirely. Or did it?
Also available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify
Note: The content of this episode has been updated and rerecorded. Check out the new version here.
Reading List:
- Armstrong, Walter. Wrestling. Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1890.
- 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 C. Amateur Wrestling. Co-Operative Publishing Co., 1925.
- 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.
- 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
- Mitchel, John. The Last Conquest of Ireland (Perhaps). R&T Washbourne Ltd., 1882.
- 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’Reilly, Edward. An Irish-English Dictionary. James Duffy & Co. Limited, 1864
- 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.
- 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].