SHILLELAGH WALKING STICK HOW TO

The area was surrounded by large oak forests and the people of Shillelagh made wooden sticks or cudgels. Ealach was a 7th century Irish king in Leinster, one of IrelandвЂ™s four provinces. This Irish place name comes from the Irish language and means the descendants of Ealach (Siol Г‰alaigh). The surrounding area belongs to the Barony of Shillelagh. This Irish stick finds its origins in a small village in County Wicklow called Shillelagh. So letвЂ™s delve into the history of the shillelagh. No matter how you spell it, this little Irish stick is world famous. IвЂ™m sure Google gets many requests for information on words somewhere close to the ones on the following list. HereвЂ™s a list of some of the close, and not so close attempts at this word. Now writing the word shillelagh presents all kinds of challenges and there are many, many variations of this difficult little word. In Scottish Gaelic the word is shillelagh which is the form the word takes in English. The other name for this famous stick in Irish Gaelic is maide draighin (pronounced mah-deh dri-hin) which means a blackthorn stick. вЂSailвЂ™ is the Irish word for вЂњwillowвЂќ or a вЂcudgelвЂќ and Г©ille is the genitive case of iall (pronounced eel) which is the word for a strap or a thong. In the Irish language or Gaeilge the word would be sail Г©ille (pronounced shal eh-la) and which means a willow stick with a strap. The word we use today, shillelagh is Hiberno-English. Irish Language And Gaelic Names For Shillelagh: This is a Gaelic word that has been transferred to the English language. Here is one phonetic pronunciationвЂ¦ Shi-lay-lah. Irish words are notoriously difficult to read because the phonetic and written rules of this Celtic language are very different from the rules of English linguistics.

LetвЂ™s start with a little pronunciation lesson.

SHILLELAGH WALKING STICK HOW TO

Image Credit How To Pronounce Shillelagh: They had many uses as a form of protection and as an ancient weapon in Irish martial arts which weвЂ™ll explore a little more shortly. Some are taller than a person with long pole shillelaghs ranging from 6 to 9 feet. These would be known as shillelagh bata (pronounced shill-ay-lah bah-ta) and this hammer form of shillelagh is what is usually found in souvenir shops and associated with leprechauns. They also come in the form of short mallets measuring only 12 to 24 inches in length. Some are between 4 feet and 5 feet and others are the length of a walking stick, measured from the floor to the wrist,which is about 3 feet long. The length of a shillelagh can vary greatly. What Does a Shillelagh Look Like?ДЄ shillelagh is usually a black stick with a polished wooden knob as a handle at the top. So letвЂ™s explore this famous blackthorn stick or Irish quarterstaff and determine if it was a helpful walking aid or a potentially vicious weapon. It is a symbol of Ireland for the Irish diaspora throughout the world. Cold SteelвЂ™s recent forays into injected molded polypropylene products has yielded some impressive results and now we have produced a new polypropylene Blackthorn that has all of the advantages of real Blackthorn and none of its pitfalls.Shillelaghs are sold as souvenirs all over Ireland, and in Irish shops throughout the United States. It was because Blackthorn is difficult to come by and, since itвЂ™s grown and not manufactured, it is somewhat inconsistent in quality. Cold Steel made the effort to obtain and sell authentic Blackthorn sticks over fifteen years ago, but the venture turned out to be disappointing, and not because the sticks didnвЂ™t sell well. The English didnвЂ™t want to appear unreasonable by outlawing walking sticks too, so the Irish kept their modified shillelaghs and the world gained a beautiful and functional walking stick known simply as the Blackthorn. To get around the law, the Irish turned the shillelagh into a 3-foot walking stick. In expert hands the shillelagh was so fearsome that during the final occupation of Ireland, the English outlawed it. The original Blackthorn sticks were 2 to 4 foot long Irish shillelaghs (the national weapon of rural Ireland). It has been prized for centuries as a material for premium walking sticks. The Blackthorn bush is found throughout Ireland and the British Isles.

Shillelagh walking stick