Barróg was a style of

folk wrestling A folk wrestling style is any traditional style of wrestling, which may or may not be codified as a modern sport. Most cultures have developed regional forms of grappling. Europe Britain Traditionally wrestling has two main centres in Great ...

practiced in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

until the early 20th century. It was a type of backhold wrestling, similar to

Scottish Backhold Scottish Backhold is a style of folk wrestling originating in Scotland. The wrestlers grip each other around the waist at the back, with the right hand under the opponent's left arm and the chin resting on the opposite right shoulder. When the re ...

and

Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling, more commonly known just as Cumberland Wrestling, is an ancient and well-practised tradition in the traditional English counties of Cumberland and Westmorland. It bears enough of a resemblance to Scottish Back ...

Name

In the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

, the word “barróg” simply means “hug” or “embrace”. From there, it came to be used as the Irish name for backhold wrestling, in reference to the fact that both competitors were required to engage with each other in a chest-to-chest, hug-like clinch. Occasionally the style was referred to by the anglicised version of its name - Barrogue. On at least one occasion, it was misspelled in an American source as “Borrogbe wrestling”.

History

There are several folk wrestling styles of

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

and

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...

that involve competitors taking each other in a backhold clinch, such as the aforementioned Scottish Backhold and Cumberland and Westmorland styles, as well as a now-extinct variant of Icelandic

Glima Glima is the name that covers several types of Nordic folk wrestling practiced as sport and combat. In one common form of glima, players grip their opponent by the waist and attempt to throw them to the ground using technique rather than force. O ...

known as hryggspenna (“back-spanning”). It is unknown exactly when Barróg arose – or arrived – in Ireland, but there are carved depictions of figures in recognisable backhold clinches dating as far back as the 9th century AD. The characteristic backhold grip is mentioned in two separate 15th-century accounts of battlefield wrestling - one in the

Cath Finntrágha ''Cath Finntrágha'' (''The Battle of Ventry'') is an Early Modern Irish prose narrative of the Finn Cycle. It dates probably to the 15th century in its current form, but apparently relied on older material. It concerns the deeds of the warrior- ...

and another in the

Táin Bó Flidhais ''Táin Bó Flidhais'', also known as the ''Mayo Táin'', is a tale from the Ulster Cycle of early Irish literature. It is one of a group of works known as Táin Bó, or "cattle raid" stories, the best known of which is ''Táin Bó Cúailnge''. ' ...

. The Mac Suibhne ( Sweeney) clan of

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

incorporated backhold wrestling imagery on a 16th-century memorial slab for one of their more prominent members, Niall Mór Mac Suibhne. The same clan once used a wrestling match to decide a dispute over leadership. Such matches were a common form of entertainment in more recreational settings as well, as evidenced by Irish genealogist Edward MacLysaght's description of competitors at a 17th-century country fair wrestling in what he called a “hug” position. By the 18th and 19th century, Irish wrestling both at home and abroad had become dominated largely by the Collar and Elbow style, but there are records of Barróg matches persisting in the west of Ireland until the early decades of the 20th century.

Rules

There is no record of any written ruleset for Barróg, so it is unclear exactly how bouts were conducted. Given the extent to which the other backhold styles of Europe resemble each other, it is probable that Barróg contests utilised a similar framework. That is, an entirely standing style of wrestling in which one competitor wins when they make the other touch the ground with anything other than the soles of their feet. This is supported by an account of backhold wrestling from County Sligo, Sligo that appears in the Irish Folklore Commission's Schools' Collection. In addition, it was noted that Barróg in the west of Ireland had certain features in common with the backhold wrestling practised in the Hebrides, such as the phrase uttered by referees at the beginning of a bout: "''Lámh in íochdar, lámh in uachdar''" ("One hand down, one hand up").Baxter, William. 'Wrestling, The Ancient Modern Sport.' In ''Popular Games: Eclipse and Revival. From Traditions to the Regions of the Europe of Tomorrow.'' Paper presented at European Traditional Sports and Games Association (ETSGA), Carhaix, France, 1998.

Gallery

Footnotes

{{Folk wrestling 9th-century establishments in Ireland 20th-century disestablishments in Ireland European martial arts Folk wrestling styles Sport in Ireland Sports originating in Ireland Historical European martial arts

Name

History

Rules

Gallery

See also

Footnotes