shillelagh

noun

1. (Ireland)A wooden (traditionally blackthorn (sloe) wood) club ending with a large knob.

   “[T]he stem of a stout young oak or ash tree, into the end of which, where the roots had been rounded off, a quantity of molten lead was poured, making the shillelagh more formidable in such hands than a sword would have been – much harder to parry, and impossible to break.”

   “It beats all your guns and your rifles, / For it goes off whene'er you desire, / And it's sure to hit just what it aims at, / For shillelaghs they never miss fire.”

   “"My sorrow!" cried Toirdealbhach. "What do I want to be a saint for at all, is my puzzle! If I could fetch one crack at somebody with me ould shillelagh"—here he produced a frightful-looking weapon from under his gown—"wouldn't it be better than all the saints in Ireland?"”

   “The precise size and shape of a shillelagh can be hard to agree upon, but most of those who have an interest in Irish culture will readily acknowledge that a knobbed stick, made of oak or blackthorn, are the distinguishing characteristics of a shillelagh.”

2. Any cudgel, whether or not of Irish origin.

name

1. A village in County Wicklow, Ireland.