There's no ancient Irish weapon of that name, whatever the tourist shops may claim. Julian, what do you make of Eagleton's assertion that blackthorn shillelaghs, or even the term shillelagh itself, are not authentically Irish? Here is his quote in full: I have seen a great many African clubs from Kenya (Masai) down to the Cape (Zulu, Shona), and they have neither the proportions of this one nor the nails or weighting. I don't know what wood it is, though I'm fairly certain it isn't African. Posted: Thu 17 Mar, 2011 10:09 am Post subject: Of course, he doesn't cite a source either.Īny help would be appreciated. On a related note, I read recently in Eagleton 1999 that the term "shillelagh" isn't even an authentic Irish term. My question to you all is, which do you think this is, and why (ie. In an earlier thread ( ), James Cunliffe used this description for shillelaghs, while Wikipedia does the same s.v. I've heard this description (nails and lead) applied to both Irish shillelaghs and World War I trench clubs, though not with any corresponding documentation. I found this club recently in an antique shop: It's carved of one piece of wood and has nails driven into the head, and also has a bit of lead weight set into the top of the head. Patrick's Day tomorrow, I thought I'd put this question before you. Posted: Wed 16 Mar, 2011 9:01 pm Post subject: Shillelagh or WW1 Trench Club?
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