Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An oak or blackthorn sapling, used in Ireland as a cudgel.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Irish An oaken sapling or cudgel; any cudgel; -- so called from
Shillelagh , a place in Ireland of that name famous for its oaks.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a cudgel made of hardwood (usually oak or blackthorn)
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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"shillalah," the ballot was freely given to them, as the poor man's weapon for defence.
History of Woman Suffrage, Volume III (of III) Matilda Joslyn Gage 1862
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“I am reminded of the old Irish saying which I heard a great many years ago, when first in that country, that the ‘shillalah never missed fire,’” he said.
The Gun C. J. Chivers 2010
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But Murphy was already far up the grade, brandishing his shillalah and shouting at the top of his voice:
The Return of Blue Pete Luke Allan
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"I only wish the gentle Annie back there had given him a tap with the shillalah," remarked Jim.
Frontier Boys in Frisco Wyn Roosevelt
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"Like this, for instance," remarked Jack Armitage, flourishing a husky specimen that would pass muster for an Irishman's shillalah.
Pathfinder or, The Missing Tenderfoot Alan Douglas
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I got hould of a shillalah that fits me hand like a glove, glory be!
The Return of Blue Pete Luke Allan
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Some carried revolvers, others the handles of our entrenching tools (these had small iron cog wheels at one end and they made an excellent shillalah), a few had bombs, and one of the boys,
Into the Jaws of Death Jack O'Brien
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"You did nobly for a Swede, Mr. Gustavus Adolphus, but I would give ten tenners to have had your place and your shillalah, -- a Swede for a match-lock, but an Irishman for a stick."
The Fat of the Land The Story of an American Farm John Williams Streeter
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Fair, always willin 'to raise me shillalah and to hit any head which stands firninst me.
Woodrow Wilson as I Know Him Joseph P. Tumulty
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You hunt up a nice fat shillalah that you can use on the head of one of our visitors when they get here.
Motor Boat Boys Mississippi Cruise or, The Dash for Dixie Louis Arundel
hernesheir commented on the word shillalah
(n): variant of shillelah, shillelagh, shilleyly, shillala, an Irish club or cudgel traditionally made of blackthorn. (The Winston Dictionary.)
January 18, 2009
sionnach commented on the word shillalah
Gaah. Shillelagh is the kind of rubbishy word that was probably coined by the Northern Irish Tourist Board after a slow season, as a way of exploiting the tacky souvenir market even further. AS part of the subsequent branding campaign, it was then cunningly retrospectively inserted in the works of assorted "writers" of the Celtic twilight persuasion. Starting, of course, with the despicable Synge, whose work was already so studded with pukeworthy, picaresque paddyisms that nobody was going to notice the post hoc insertion of yet another ladle of steaming crap.
There's a patently racist graphic depiction of 'Paddy the Irishman' that invariably accompanies the non-word shillelagh:
Racist Paddywhackery
The not-so-subtle dehumanizing effect of such racist images and stereotypical props undoubtedly helped exacerbate one mass starvation and a couple of centuries of systematic oppression.
No Irish need apply
Generally speaking, shillelagh is a word one probably should avoid when talking to someone from Ireland. Unless, of course, offensive stereotyping is the goal.
Which I know it's not here, obviously. Forgive my little diatribe, but it's a loathsome, loaded word.
*Dismounts from soapbox, walks away slowly*
(You may be wondering, if this is a kind of taboo word, because of its associations, what people in Ireland would say for the thing it denotes. The answer is a 'blackthorn stick')
January 18, 2009
hernesheir commented on the word shillalah
But what of the images of the Fenians brandishing their fighting sticks, and of cross-roads dancers holding theirs aloft? I still want one, despite the dozen or so intricately carved and wood-burned ones in various woods I have created to record my journeys over hill and dale in various places.
January 18, 2009
hernesheir commented on the word shillalah
Sionnach, I think you should hook up with a certain "ceolach" I know from another site. You are two peas from a pod, if ever there were.
January 18, 2009