A shillelagh, (pronounced shi-LAY-lee) is a wooden walking stick or a club or cudgel with a strap. Typically made from a stout knotty tree branch with a large knob at the top, it is associated with Ireland and Irish folklore.
Shillelaghs 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.
Although originally used for settling disputes in a gentlemanly
manner (like pistols in colonial America, or the katana in Japan), the
shillelagh eventually became a symbol of stereotypical violent Irish
behaviour. Modern practitioners of Bataireacht study the use of the
shillelagh for self defence and as a martial art.
In modern usage, the shillelagh is recognised (particularly in an Irish-American context) as a symbol of Irishness.
Shillelaghs are sometimes referred to in a similar context in folk
songs, such as in 'Finnegan's Wake,' in which the term 'shillelagh law'
refers to a brawl, and in the 19th century song 'Rocky Road to Dublin,'
in which references are made to fashioning a shillelagh, using it to
hold a tied bag over one's shoulder, and using it as a striking weapon.
Officers of the Irish Guards are issued with Shillelaghs, as were past
Irish Regiments of the British Army, such as the Inniskillen Dragoons.
