Again in June 8th 1825 another fight was reported, the next reported fight took place was 1835. 10 people were arrested, named as ringleaders. Hayes and a man named Homan fought each other, Homan narrowly avoided death. In New York on the 31st march 1825 the New York American Newspaper reported that a shillelagh frolic took place that morning in the neighborhood of the marble buildings, where several hundred sons of Erin assembled for the occasion, where Paddy L. One of the biggest of its kind went on in Ballyveigh Strand, County Kerry in 1834, it involved hundreds of fighters
But not all of these fights were done with playful intent many were done to settle feuds and political or religious tensions, the winner of the fight was usually the winner of the dispute. Even though it caused death, the practice of faction fighting was considered good fun and in fact, people brought to justice for killing people in faction fights were often exonerated. Two or more groups assembled to fight using mostly rocks and sticks, very often resulting in the death of many participants. The Factions fought for pride, land, territory or sometimes, just for fun. In fact there is strong evidence of Faction Fighting and use of the Shillelagh not just in Ireland but in Liverpool, U.K, New Orleans & New York going as far back as 1825.Ī Faction Fight was usually based around families or “Clans” and took place on the fare days or on Sunday after mass. First recorded in Co.Tipperary it is said to have spread like wildfire throughout the country. The origins of the use of the stick is hard to determine as they weren’t properly recorded until the 17th & 18th centuries, though it is thought to be much older, there is strong evidence that the shillelagh was a weapon from an ancient form of Irish martial art, Bataireacht is a category of stick-fighting martial arts of Ireland which over the past few years has seen a revival after becoming an almost extinct practice.įaction Fighting was the name given to phenomenon that broke out in Ireland during the 17th century in which large groups of men fought pitched battles using Blackthorn sticks such as the Shillelagh. Traditionally, the shillelagh or blackthorn sticks with thorns left on the stick were smeared with whiskey butter and smoked over fire (in the fireplace) – thus giving them their dark, hard, glossy surface. It was made by taking either the branch of a tree or an entire juvenile tree including the root knob and cutting it up to approximately three foot in length with the root left in a ball on top, some fighters would carve an opening in it and fill it with molten lead to give it a bit more weight. The Shillelagh was traditionally made from blackthorn wood which was available easily and in large quantities, it was a tree species of high hardness and stiffness – it grew on the side of the road. The Shillelagh was used as a walking stick and or a weapon. The Shillelagh (pronounced shi – lay – la) is the name for a traditional Irish stick or stick of blackthorn wood, its usually sold to tourists and is a symbol of Irishness, it is on the logo of sports clubs, political office and other places around the world however, it has a long and somewhat sinister past.
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