Dia Dhuit all, im from Meath Ireland.
 
Ive been slinging for nearly six months now but ive had a fascination with history since I was a kid so when I came across this site it allowed me to make and use a weapon I had read about for years and that was used in Ireland and all over the world. I will post pics of my slings soon.

Looking forward to seeing your slings. Welcome aboard.

There is little or no knowledge of the sling in Ireland. Most people think its a "slingshot"!
 
I have to hide my sling until I hit the beach and even there I pocket it when people walk by. There is an army shooting range just off the beach where I tend to go. People seem accepting of that, viewing it I assume as someone hitting targets as opposed to someone "up to no good"!
 
I think somehow people view it in light of youths in Northern Ireland who throw(rather than sling) stones and bricks and see anything similar as suspicious. Given that in mythological cycles Lugh was supposed to have said that the sling was just as worthy a weapon for a man as a sword or spear. This must be the only cultural reference elevating the sling to a higher status than poor mans or auxiliary status. The only person I know who even knew what a sling was is my friend whos not even Irish but Palestinian, and even in Palestine its a dying art the preserve of youths and bedouin herders.
 
So all in all a bad indictment of the sling in Ireland, something that will have to change!

Top of the morning to you! And Welcome.
 
Slinging is a great hobby, stick to it!

brain balls new to me.  
 
So a shrunken (though not by much if the skull is not removed) calcified head.  
 
Not a lime pit - that's a different process entirely. what we're talking about would be lime stone. there is aplace in yorkshire - mother shiptons well. where you can place objects in very hard (mineral bearing) water. and over time they are coated in deposited limestone.  
 
But a full sized human head, with a stone coating would be too large for a hand sling.  
Not to mention much too heavy.
 
So maybe they removed the skull ?  
 
It all seems a weird way to get sling ammo.  Perhaps a brain ball was simply another name for a shaped stone missile ?  
 
 
If you look round the forum there is afair bit of discussion about slings found as grave goods in ireland and a barrow where a lot of slingstones were found. Someone will know the details - after 7 years I just try and remember that these threads exist rather than any fine detail

In that time the Irish took heads for tropheys and they were proccessed so keep them from rotting and were displayed in a hut. The brains were removed and mixed with lime to create the ball used for the warriors slings. It imagine there was a mystical spin to the creation as well as uniformity.
 
http://archive.org/stream/cuchulainofmuirt00gregrich#page/84/mode/2up/search/sli ng Has references to the use of slings.

Cead mile failte! That being about the whole extent of my Irish. Glad to have you amongst the Rabble. Enjoy yourself.

Hi Lugh, Welcome from Spain!
 
I love Irish stories about The Red Branch and Cuchulainn.
 
As far as I know the "tathlum" was made adding lime to an enemy brain.
 
The god Lugh Lamhfada killed his granfather Balor, throwing a "tathlum" to his deadly eye before he opened it completely. So you must remember how to make a good brain ball and cast it  
 
Cead Mile Failte!