@Paskal
Ireland was a military backwater at this time. Stirrups were not used by the cavalry until the very end of the 16th century and handguns did not arrive until the 1490s, at Dublin Castle, when 11 handguns were described as "a great rarity out of Germany".
Ireland was split between the traditional Irish tribes and chieftains/kings in about 80% of Ireland and Anglo-Irish settlers around Dublin, an area known as The Pale. These English probably resembled the Shire levy in England but that is a pure guess. Dress and weapons may have crossed The Pale in both directions.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pale
Traditional Irish still relied on cattle raiding as that was the only real portable wealth and the Kerns excelled in that type of tribal Celtic-style warfare. When Henry VIII attacked France in the 1530s he took Kerns with him to provide fresh meat and there are drawings showing Kerns returning to his camp with stolen cattle.
The Kerns were good ambush warriors and always gave the English trouble in woods, bogs and rocky ground. They are not good at open battle.
The Gallowglass wore armour in the 16th century that any 11th century Viking would recognise. Long mail or padded jackets and long axes. It was noted by writers at the time that if Gallowglasses appeared then there was going to be a battle, they were the 'heavies'. The shock troops.
English Tudor historians were anti-Irish and appear to have sneered at the Irish at Stoke, describing them as naked and beggerly. This is clearly a reference to the Kerns but might also apply to a bare-legged Gallowglass however well he was armoured.
In Ireland units were formed of 80 + 80 Kerns and Gallowglass and these were noted as such. However other figures suggest that Kerns may have outnumbered in some areas by 3 or 4 to 1 Gallowglass. Gallowglass units also may have had servants and boys throwing javelins from the back ranks as they attacked with their long axes. In my rules I allow one round of javelin shooting from Gallowglasses as an option.
In a 50/50 unit the Kerns may have skirmished in front but then fell back to provide overhead fire as the Gallowglass went in with their axes, as I just described.
For Stoke assume at least half the Irish are Kerns and maybe half or less are Gallowglass. Just because Gallowglass were not mentioned does not mean they were not there. Note also that Albrecht Durer made sketches of Irish Gallowglass and Kerns in Germany in the early 16th century. He sketched two or three of each and they are clearly different.
link
If you double-click on the image in the above link then it opens up big!
If Gallowglass can reach Germany they can certainly reach East Stoke 40 years before.
looks at a multi-period building.
