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The Derrick prints, the image of Ireland, is a pictorial piece of propaganda to a certain extent - they are very precious as contemporary pictures (all too rare) of how the Irish appeared: but the verse that goes under each picture indicates they are designed to show the Irish both as barbarians and as dominated by the Franciscan friars who are shown as encouraging them to go out on raids and sharing in the booty when the cattle are driven back from the villages - particularly Rory Óg Ó more, Rory Óg Ó more of Laois, is shown as a wood kerne raiding villages . Rory Óg Ó more of Laois was perhaps a somewhat more complicated character than is shown in the pictures because he was also, for part of the time, quite a close friend of some of the Planters, but there is absolutely no doubt that Irish warfare did consist to a very large degree of raiding cattle and burning houses. This is partly because of the low-tech equipment, that they weren’t really in a position to engage in set battle pieces for lack of guns and armour and siege-machinery.
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