Shillelagh (club)

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A selection of shillelaghs

A shillelagh (Irish: sail éille, a cudgel with a strap), commonly pronounced /ʃɪˈleɪli/ "shi-LAY-lee" or "shi-LAY-la", IPA: [ɕaˈleːlə]) is a wooden club or cudgel, typically made from a stout knotty stick with a large knob on the end, that is associated with Ireland and Irish folklore. They are traditionally made from blackthorn (sloe) wood (Prunus spinosa) or oak. The wood would be smeared with butter and placed up a chimney to cure, giving the Shillelagh its typical black shiny appearance. Shillelaghs may be hollowed at the heavy "hitting" end and filled with molten lead to increase the weight beyond the typical two pounds; this sort of Shillelagh is known as a 'loaded stick'. They are commonly the length of a walking stick (distance from the floor to one's wrist with elbow slightly bent). Most also have a heavy knob for a handle which can be used for striking as well as parrying and disarming an opponent. Many shillelaghs also have a strap attached (hence the Irish name), similar to commercially made walking sticks, to place around the holder's wrist.

There is no actual connection with the village or forest of Shillelagh (Irish: Síol Éalaigh, meaning descendants of Éalach) in County Wicklow, other than the fact that both the original Irish names have ended up with the same anglophone interpretation.

Although originally used for settling disputes in a gentlemanly manner (like pistols in colonial America, or the katana in Japan), the shillelagh became almost a weapon associated with Irish martial arts, and eventually became a symbol of stereotypical violent Irish behavior, and has thus become nearly a tabooed topic of discussion for some Irish people. Modern practitioners of Bataireacht study the use of the shillelagh for self defense and as a martial art.

[edit] Shillelagh in popular culture

Non Commissioned Officer of the Fighting 69th carry shillelaghs as rank badges in parades
In the folk song "Finnegan's Wake", shillelagh law refers to a brawl. As per, "Law of the sword" (or in this case, cudgel).
There was a popular song, "The Same Old Shillelagh", recorded by several Irish-American singers in the 1940s, including Bing Crosby and Billy Murray, about such a weapon being passed along from father to son.
In the movie Gangs of New York, the character Walter "Monk" McGinn uses a Shillelagh during the fight between the 'American Natives' and the 'Dead Rabbits' with forty-four notches, signifying his forty-four kills.
San Diego Padres broadcaster Mark Grant popularized the shillelagh as a rally call in San Diego. Grant also uses terms like "Shillelagh Power" to describe late game heroics by the Padres. The success of the phrase has led the San Diego Padres store to carry inflatable shillelaghs that fans can purchase and use as a rally call during a game.
In college football, a Jeweled Shillelagh is the trophy given to the winner of the rivalry game between the USC Trojans and Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
'Shillelagh', a song by Toronto-based band, Cancer Bats.
Finlay, an Irish professional wrestler for WWE commonly uses the Shillelagh as a weapon
Hornswoggle, another WWE professional wrestler, and the sidekick of Finlay, uses the shillelagh as well.
In the television show Saturday Night Live, the actor John Belushi states "I'd like to smash you in the face with my Shillelagh" during a comedy sketch about "The Luck of the Irish" with Jane Curtin during the news section of the show.
In the 19th century song Rocky Road to Dublin, references are made to the fashioning a shillelagh, using it to hold a tied bag over one's shoulder and in terms of using it as a striking weapon.
Until recently, some university student unions had a tradition of providing a ceremonial shillelagh to the union president (Notre Dame and University of Manitoba are two examples).
In the 1955 Tex Avery Cartoon Droopy's Double Trouble, Irish dog Spike refers to a baseball bat as a shillelagh. ( Spike: "Alright, give me that shillelagh!" Droopy: "Why Spike, I don't have a shillelagh." )
On March 17, 2004 David Letterman presented the "Top Ten Questions To Ask Yourself Before Buying A Shillelagh".
A shillelagh was carried by the McDonald's character Uncle O'Grimacey, Irish uncle of the better known Grimace, who made his appearances for St. Patrick's Day.
The Boston Celtics professional basketball team's logo has a leprechaun leaning with his left hand on his shillelagh.
The Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game has a spell called Shillelagh that makes an ordinary club or quarterstaff magical and deal damage as though it were a much larger weapon.
Shillelaghs are often used by leprechauns in the show Charmed.
The MSORPG AdventureQuest has various weapons of the type "Shillelagh".
In Paul Brady's traditional Irish folk song "Arthur McBride and the Sergeant" a shillelagh is thrown at two haughty recruitment officers by Arthur McBride and the song's narrator.

"And then Arthur and I we soon drew our hods And we scarce gave them time for to draw their own blades When a trusty shillelagh came over their heads And bade them take that as fair warning."

'The People's Song Book' published by John Leng & Co. Ltd. London & Dundee (year not known) contains a song called 'A Sprig of Shillelagh', which combines patriotic and unionist sentiments.

The final verse runs;
'Bless the country, say I, that gave Patrick his birth!
Bless the land of the oak and its neighbouring earth,
Where grow the shillelah and shamrock so green!
May the sons of the Thames of the Tweed and the Shannon
Drub foes who dare plant on our confines a cannon;
United and happy at loyalty's shrine,
May the rose and the thistle long flourish and twine
Round a sprig of shillelah and shamrock so green.'

In the song No Irish Need Apply the singer uses a Shillelagh on a business man who refuses to hire Irish people with the stock phrase "no Irish Need apply"
In the mockumentary[1] Best in Show [2], character Scott Donlan quips "Bratwurst and shillelaghs... paging Dr. Freud" after the Hotel Manager says that he is Irish-German^[1]