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{{EngvarB|date=February 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
[[File:Assorted shillelagh.JPG|thumb|right|Assorted shillelaghs
A '''shillelagh''' ({{IPAc-en|ʃ|ᵻ|ˈ|l|eɪ|l|i|,_|-|l|ə}} {{respell|shil|AY|lee|,_-|lə}}; {{lang-ga|sail éille}} or {{lang|ga|saill éalaigh}}{{sfn|Barry|2013|p=9}} {{IPA-ga|ˌsˠal̠ʲ ˈeːlʲə|}}, "thonged willow") is a wooden walking stick and [[Club (weapon)|club or cudgel]], typically made from a stout knotty [[Prunus spinosa|blackthorn]] stick with a large knob at the top. It is associated with Ireland and [[Irish mythology|Irish folklore]].
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[[File:Shillelaghs in various stages of completion.jpg|thumb|Oaken shillelaghs in various stages of completion]]
=== Fittings ===
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'.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|These loaded versions are called by such names as ''smachtín'' (''smachtín ceann luaidhe'' or "lead-headed cudgel"), and are the size of smaller ''ailpín''.{{sfn|Hurley|2007|p=148}}}}{{sfn|Chouinard|2007}}{{sfn|Hurley|2007|p=148}}
== History ==
Shillelaghs were used in Ireland for [[duel]]s, as were swords or pistols in other places, with a code of conduct.<ref>{{cite web | title=Shillelagh|publisher=Indiana University Bloomington | website=Windows to the World: Digital Artifacts for Global Educators| url=https://w2w.indiana.edu/explore-collections/shillelagh.html | access-date=7 October 2024}}</ref> Modern practitioners of this form of [[stick-fighting]] study the use of the shillelagh for self-defence and as a [[Martial arts|martial art]]. Researcher J. W. Hurley writes:
<blockquote>
Methods of shillelagh fighting have evolved over a period of thousands of years, from the spear, staff, axe and sword fighting of the Irish. There is some evidence which suggests that the use of Irish stick weapons may have evolved in a progression from a reliance on long spears and [[Acacia sensu lato|wattles]], to shorter spears and wattles, to the shillelagh, alpeen,{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|There is only a vague distinction between shillelagh and alpeen ([[Diarmaid Ó Muirithe]]),{{nonspecific|date=November 2022}} though the alpeen may be longer or heavier, and be knobbed in the minds of some ([[P. W. Joyce]]).{{sfn|Hurley|2007|p=131}} An ''alpeen'' or ''ailpeen'' ({{lang-ga|ailpín}}) is glossed as. "thick [[alpenstock]]", "[[walking stick#Types|ashplant]]", "club", "heavy stick".{{sfn|Dolan|2006|pp=5–6: "ailpeen, alpeen"}} }} blackthorn (walking-stick) and short cudgel. By the 19th century Irish shillelagh-fighting had evolved into a practice which involved the use of three basic types of weapons, sticks which were long, medium or short in length.{{sfn|Hurley|2007|p=347}}</blockquote>
''Bataireacht'', an [[Irish language]] term sometimes given as referring to "cudgelling" or "beating with a club",<ref>{{cite book | url = https://celt.ucc.ie/Dinneen1sted.pdf | via = celt.ucc.ie | title = Foclóir Gaedhilge agus Béarla / An Irish-English Dictionary | editor-first = Patrick S. | editor-last = Dinneen | place = Dublin | publisher = Irish Texts Society | date = 1904 }}</ref>
Some authors have argued that prior to the 19th century, the term "bataireacht" had been used to refer to a form of stick-fencing used to train Irish soldiers in [[broadsword]] and [[sabre]] techniques.<ref name="Patrick D. O'Donnell">{{cite book
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| title = The Irish Faction Fighters of the 19th Century
| publisher = Anvil Press
| year = 1975}}{{page needed|date=December 2020}}</ref> This theory has been
| last = Walker
| first = Donald
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}}</ref> the two systems are in practice substantially different, namely in the active use of the buta, a part of the stick with no equivalent in European swords.{{fact|date=January 2024}}
By the 18th century, stick fighting became increasingly associated with Irish gangs called "factions".
| last = Clark
| first = Samuel
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The novelty song "[[It's the Same Old Shillelagh]]" was written by Pat White and recorded by him in 1927. Its subject is a young Irish-American who inherits his father's shillelagh.
The anti-recruiting folk song "[[Arthur McBride]]", where the recruiters are struck with a shillelagh,{{sfn|Milner|Kaplan|1983a|pp=87–88}}{{sfn|James|2006}} and in the 19th-century song "[[Rocky Road to Dublin]]", in which references are made to fashioning a shillelagh ("I cut a stout blackthorn"), and using it ("shillalah"){{sfn|Carleton|1866|pp=59–63}} to hold a tied bag over one's shoulder, and using it as a striking weapon ("me shillelagh I let fly").{{sfn|Milner|Kaplan|1983b|pp=58–59}}
[[Charles Dibdin the younger]] wrote a song entitled "The Twig of Shelaly",{{sfn|Dibdin|1807|pp=85–87}} later reprinted as "The Twig of Shillelah".{{sfn|Dibdin|1810|pp=12–87}}
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[[Bing Crosby]] recorded a song entitled "Two Shillelagh O'Sullivan" in the 1950s.{{sfn|Crosby|1952}}
== Modern
[[Image:Jeweledshillelagh.jpg|thumb|right|The Jeweled Shillelagh]]
The shillelagh came to be regarded as a stereotypical symbol of Irishness in popular culture,{{sfn|Hurley|2007|p=15}} particularly in an Irish-American context.
Members of a number of [[Irish_in_the_British_Armed_Forces#Regiments|Irish regiments in the British Armed Forces]] have traditionally carried Blackthorn sticks, including officers of the [[Irish Guards]],{{sfn|Matusitz|2014|p=208|loc=Officers of the Irish Guards are given shillelaghs upon graduation - just like Irish Regiments of the British Army in the past}} the [[Royal Irish Regiment (1992)|Royal Irish Regiment]] and the [[Royal Dragoon Guards]]. Officers and senior non-commissioned officers of the 69th Infantry Regiment ([[69th Infantry Regiment (New York)|The Fighting 69th]]) of the [[New York Army National Guard]] also carry shillelaghs whilst on parade.{{sfn|Feuer|2005}}
In sports, the [[Boston Celtics]] logo
== See also ==
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* [[Knobkerrie]], a similar club associated with Southern Africa and World War I British troops
* [[Rungu (weapon)]], a similar club common in East Africa
==Further reading==
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* {{cite web |last=Crosby |first=Bing |date=1952 |title=Two Shillelagh O'Sullivan |url=https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/13890566 |access-date=19 July 2020}}
* {{cite journal |last=Crowley |first=T. |title=James Joyce: Here Comes Everyword |journal=Manchester Memoirs |volume=133 |publisher=[[Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society]] |year=1996 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z3weAQAAIAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Dibdin|first=C. Jr. |author-link=Charles Dibdin the younger |chapter=The Twig of Shelaly |title=Mirth and metre: consisting of poems [&c.]. |publisher=Vernor, Hood, & Sharpe |year=1807 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3yNYAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA86}}
* {{cite book |last=Dibdin|first=C. Jr. |author-link=Charles Dibdin the younger |chapter=The Twig of Shillelah |title=The Pride of Albion. A Collection of New and Pleasing Songs, Etc |publisher=T. Hughes |year=1810 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zzVYAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA126}}
* {{cite dictionary |last=Dolan |first=Terence Patrick |title=shillelagh |dictionary=A Dictionary of Hiberno-English: The Irish Use of English |publisher=[[Gill & Macmillan]] |year=2006 |isbn=9780717140398 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RN0p1uienWMC&pg=PA209}}
* {{cite web |last=Feuer |first=Alan |date=18 March 2005 |title=Green Camouflage and Purple Hearts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/18/nyregion/18fighting.html| work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=6 October 2008}}
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* {{cite book |last=McCann |first=Sean |author-link=Sean McCann (actor) |year=1972 |title=The Fighting Irish |publisher=Leslie Frewin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jT-CAAAAIAAJ |isbn=978-0-85632-007-1}}
* {{cite book |last=McHugh |first=Roland |year=1991 |title=Annotations to Finnegans wake |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-0-8018-4190-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8lxnAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last1=Milner |first1=Dan |author-link1=Dan Milner |last2=Kaplan |first2=Paul |chapter=Arthur McBride |title=Songs of England, Ireland, and Scotland: A Bonnie Bunch of Roses |publisher=Oak Publications |year=1983a |isbn=1-783234-92-X |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZpbIDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT87}}
* {{cite book |last1=Milner |first1=Dan |author-link1=Dan Milner |last2=Kaplan |first2=Paul |chapter=The Rocky Road to Dublin |title=Songs of England, Ireland, and Scotland: A Bonnie Bunch of Roses |publisher=Oak Publications |year=1983b |isbn=1-783234-92-X |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZpbIDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT58}}
* {{cite book | last = O'Begly | first = Conor | title = An Focloir Bearla Gaoidheilge | publisher = Bar na chur acclodh le Seumas Guerin, an bhiadhain dloir an tiaghurna | year = 1732 | page = 145 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=G00_AAAAcAAJ&q=cudgel | via = books.google.com }}
* {{Cite web |last=O'Connell |first=Ronan |date=2022 |title=Bataireacht: The ancient Irish martial art making a comeback |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20221016-bataireacht-the-ancient-irish-martial-art-making-a-comeback |access-date=2023-11-10 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last=Wright |first=William |author-link=s:Wright, William (
* {{cite news |author=Y. |date=24 February 2000 |title=How black is a blackthorn? |newspaper=The Irish Times |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/how-black-is-a-blackthorn-1.248616 |ref={{harvid|Irish Times|2000}} }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=shillelagh |publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary |website=etymonline.com |title=Shillelagh |ref={{harvid|Etymology Online}} }}
* {{cite book |chapter-url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/178130?redirectedFrom=shillelagh#eid |chapter=Shillelagh |title=Oxford English Dictionary (Second Edition, Volume 15) |ref={{harvid|Oxford English Dictionary|1989}} |chapter-url-access=subscription}}
* {{cite book |series=Dungeons & Dragons |title=Player's Handbook |edition=5th |publisher=[[Wizards of the Coast]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-7869-6560-1 |url=http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/rpg_playershandbook |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140824153624/http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/rpg_playershandbook |url-status=live|archive-date=24 August 2014 |ref={{harvid|Dungeons & Dragons|2014}}}}
{{Refend}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Shillelagh}}
* {{cite
[[Category:Clubs (weapon)]]
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