#IRISH SHILLELAGH WALKING STICK FULL VERSION#

As the fight went on fighters usually lost their weapons, they would then move to their wrestling, attempting to throw each other to the ground so that the final stomping, both fighters usually wearing hob-nailed boots could commence. As the distance between fighters decreased, the tip of the stick, on the bottom, could be used to jab and strike. A heavy blow from the side removed the hat, and the follow-up strikes were, hopefully, struck by the bottom part of the stick. The first objective was to knock the hat off the head of the opponent, both as a sign of disrespect and to make the skull more easily accessible. The left arm could be used for blocking strikes, throwing a punch or, once in close quarters, grabbing an opponent’s stick to attempt a disarm. It would start with both fighters using sticks, the shillelagh or a cudgel, the stick was held typically in the right hand, with 6 inches or so extending past the base of the hand, with the rest of the stick extending upright.

#IRISH SHILLELAGH WALKING STICK FULL VERSION#

(Please see the sources below for the full version of the use and origins of the shillelagh)Ī faction fight typically broke down into 3 parts, stick fighting, wrestling & stomping.

The origins of the use of the stick is hard to determine as they weren’t properly recorded until the 17th & 18th centuries, though it is thought to be much older, there is strong evidence that the shillelagh was a weapon from an ancient form of Irish martial art, stick fighting, which over the past few years has seen a revival after becoming an almost extinct practice. Traditionally, the shillelagh or blackthorn sticks with thorns left on the stick were smeared with whiskey butter and smoked over fire (in the fireplace) – thus giving them their dark, hard, glossy surface. It was made by taking either the branch of a tree or an entire juvenile tree including the root knob and cutting it up to approximately three foot in length with the root left in a ball on top, some fighters would carve an opening in it and fill it with molten lead to give it a bit more weight. The Shillelagh was traditionally made from blackthorn wood which was available easily and in large quantities, it was a tree species of high hardness and stiffness – it grew on the side of the road. So having a walking stick that doubled as a weapon was a clever way around such laws.

The Shillelagh was used as a walking stick and or a weapon, in the 1600’s the Penal Laws set by the British Government outlawed Irish people from owning weapons, among a host of other laws. The Shillelagh (pronounced shi – lay – la) is the name for a traditional Irish stick or stick of blackthorn wood, its usually sold to tourists and is a symbol of Irishness, it is on the logo of sports clubs, political office and other places around the world however, it has a long and somewhat sinister past.

Irish shillelagh walking stick