around the world in 80 plays
IRELAND
Words by Chad Wilkinson
This month we’re not straying too far from Tabletop Gaming HQ as we take a quick trip over the Irish Sea. The verdant ‘Emerald Isles’ are of course famous for the more sport oriented Gaelic Games, and whilst this points toward an affinity for competitive play, does it indicate the existence of a traditional tabletop scene?
Often reductively referred to as Gaelic chess, Fidchell is in fact a somewhat elusive game – its rules only loosely gauged from the numerous descriptions in Irish legends and lore. Literature describes Fidchell as a strategic game played by both royalty and gods.