When I popped this DVD into the player, I was expecting to be taken on a journey into the underground world of bare-knuckle fighting in Ireland.  I expected it to be brutal and compelling; difficult to watch, but impossible to turn away.  It was all those things, and much more.

The Irish Travellers are an itinerant people of ethnic Irish origin, who maintain a set of traditions and a distinct ethnic identity.  They live mostly in Ireland as well as having large numbers in the United Kingdom and in the United States.  It is to this world we are introduced.

There is a feud between two Traveller clans: The Quinn McDonaghs and their cousins, the Joyces.  It seems that all the clans within the Traveller community are related to each other in some way, by blood or marriage or both.  There were two separate incidents between the clans that have provoked a war of words, curiously conducted through an exchange of videotapes and DVDs.  When words aren’t sufficient they resort to fists.  Yet it isn’t mere brawling.

Even though this is a blood feud, there is a strict set of rules for conducting the bouts, referred to as “fair fighting”.  Hands can be bandaged or bare, no gloves.  You must use closed fists.  No kicking, gouging, biting, holding, or butting.  You can be disqualified by the two neutral referees for breaking those rules.  Bouts run continuously, without rest until one man is knocked out, or concedes, or they both agree to stop, in which case it is considered a draw.  It seems pretty clear that the feud is superimposed over top a much older bare-knuckle fighting tradition, and is used, at least in part, as an excuse for staging the bouts.

The principals in this documentary are James Quinn McDonagh, his younger brother Michael, and Big Joe Joyce, head of the Joyce clan.  It opens with James training for a fight with Paddy “The Lurcher” Joyce, who James dispatches in under 15 minutes.  We aren’t spared the brutality as we watch James bust up The Lurcher’s face pretty badly.  James seems to be a reluctant warrior, but tends to get caught up in the idea of family honor, and cannot help but rise to persistent challenges.  Michael is more enthusiastic about fighting, but much younger and less skilled than James.  As a result he finds himself overmatched in a bout with a much larger man.  He resorts to biting and is disqualified.  Joe Joyce is a hard-as-nails man in his 50s and seems to be unwilling to let any slight to his family pass, no matter how small.

This documentary was shot over 12 years, 1997 to 2009.  It follows the evolution of the feud between the Quinns and the Joyces, as well as a separate feud with a clan called the Nevins.  As we watch we see in James a man increasingly reluctant to fight, and the most willing to bury the hatchet.  Michael grows into a skilled fighter looking to redeem himself after his humiliating loss.  Joe Joyce cannot seem to let go of the past and even finds himself, as a grandfather, in a bout with one of his many enemies.  It is a riveting glimpse into life in a little-known world, and I must confess that I found myself caught up in the excitement.  Dana White of UFC himself could not hope to put on such a show.