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At various times throughout history, Irish people have followed codes of conduct which governed their behaviour when fighting.
In the Irish folk-song "Finnegans’ Wake", the "no-holds barred" rules governing the Faction Fight which
takes place during Tim Finnegans wake, are referred to as "Shillelagh Law". This phrase always struck me as a perfect
description for the fighting code which governed the way Irish martial artists used to fight in the 18th and 19th centuries.
In my writings I refer to this code (and the fighting culture which it embodied) as either "the Shillelagh Code"
or "Shillelagh Law". Briefly, the main tenants of this code were:
Our Mission
The Irish "Shillelagh" (Sail-Éille) is one of the best known yet least explored icons of Irish culture. In order
to understand why, we have to go back to the year 1845 when the ancestors of modern Irish people, began to suffer from the
traumatic effects of what was to become the largest artificial shortage of food in human history, known to some as the "Great
Irish Famine" and to others as "An Gorta Mór".
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Organization News
We will be holding Shillelagh and Celtic Martial Arts workshops at:
The Swamp Celts Festival and Highland Games APRIL
1, 2006
Lamar Dixon Expo Center
GONZALES, LA
Celtic Nations Heritage Festival
October 13, 14, and 15, 2006
Civic
Center
Lake Charles, Louisiana
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Becoming a Member
No matter if you are a seasoned martial artist or just interested in learning more about your Irish (Celtic) heritage, we
have something to offer you. By studying the arts of the Shillelagh, you must start at the origins, which means understanding
where you came from in order to realize where you are going. It is not the destination, but the journey. To learn more about
getting involved e-mail us or join us on:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shillelagh/
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