Shillelagh The Irish Fighting Stick eBook John W Hurley
Download As PDF : Shillelagh The Irish Fighting Stick eBook John W Hurley 
For centuries the Irish have been associated with a stick weapon called the Shillelagh. And for generations of Irishmen, the Shillelagh was a badge of honor - a symbol of their courage, their martial prowess and their willingness to fight for their rights and their honor. In modern popular culture, the Shillelagh has acquired a less appealing image, one that attempts to declaw the Irish through negative racial stereotypes of the Victorian era, which depict the Irish as harmless club-weilding Leprecauns or drunken, half-witted brawlers. John Hurley’s illuminating study forever alters our view of this much maligned and misunderstood cultural icon by revealing the true martial arts culture of the Irish people, its history, evolution and decline and the resulting effects on the Shillelagh - the most powerful and controversial of Irish icons.
Shillelagh The Irish Fighting Stick eBook John W Hurley
I bought my friend a blackthorn cudgel for his birthday this year and got this book to go with it, along with the one on Irish Gangs and Stick Fighting. I started thumbing through the book and became so enthralled I bought my own e-copy of it then eventually bought myself a very striking blackthorn walking stick. I highly recommend this book, it is really fascinating and many of the stories related within conjur up vivid and exciting images in the reader's mind!Product details
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Shillelagh The Irish Fighting Stick eBook John W Hurley Reviews
I love this book. It was written by an active martial artist. And John can write well. This is demonstrated by his other books. But still outweighs the historically informative part. I missing a little the concrete practical part.
Therefore only four stars.
a well-written historical account of the shillelagh!
Good resource for the history of the Shillelagh and how it was used. Well researched, though I wish there were more pictures.
If you are interested in European (and American) martial arts history, the rich tradition of Irish martial arts, or stick fighting and martial arts traditions and practicality, or Irish history in general, this should be an addition to your library. A very interesting and comprehensive book, and I truly hope that Glen Doyle's book on his own family's style of Shillelagh fighting is published soon, as I am both interested in the history of this tradition and the actual techniques themselves. All cultures have warrior traditions, though they have not all been preserved or remembered equally. Hurley does a great service to the Irish warrior tradition here, and to all European martial arts traditions in this important book. As a lifelong martial artist who has also trained in weapons and competed in stick fighting competitions, I perhaps enjoyed the most myself those segments of the book that narrated actual examples of combat, as I understood exactly what was done. As an English professor, I have to say that many portions of this book well-deserve a more thorough editing though, again, I applaud the author for putting this book out there and helping to bring a fuller perspective to martial arts history.
Over all this book was terrific, and highly informative. If you're a fan of Irish history, or martial arts history (outside Asain martial arts that is) you'll really enjoy this book.
There are points through out the book where I felt the author was becoming a bit repetitive, mostly nearing the end and had to force myself to push forward, but over all it was an enjoyable read. The only thing keeping this review from being five stars was that there are some technical problems with the kindle version. The formatting gets really screwy when there's a picture, and typos are rampant throughout the book, I recall one section however being especially bad. Looking past that however, I'd recommend this to anyone looking to learn more of their Irish history, as this is a topic not widely known and talked about.
probably the most comprehensive book on the topic of irish history and the use of sticks to beat people sensless. very thourough. the one stop guide to the topic.
Some reviewers seemed to expect this book to be a how to manual of shillelagh fighting technique. Its not and doesn't claim to be in the description, though it does contain the complete shillelagh technique excerpt from Donald Walker's "Defensive Exercises", written in 1840. It also includes Walker's excellent "advertisment" or preface to his work, which sums up human nature and society in a few paragraphs as well as I have ever read.
What it is is a compelling history of the use of the shillelagh in 18th and 19th century Irish faction fighting. Sometimes faction fighting was sport, in which case the shillelagh was the only weapon used. More often faction fighting seems to have been earnest combat, and the shillelagh was just one of many weapons used to maim and kill the enemy.
The author quotes copiously from his primary sources, and that is not a bad thing. It allows the reader to decide if he agrees with the conclusions the author draws from those sources. I didn't always but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book at all, at all ( as the Irish used to say ). For instance the author attributed the decline of shillelagh use to the rise of Irish republicanism whereas I would think firearms would be the more obvious culprit.
As pride in his Irish heritage and perhaps even his own last name seemed to be the motivation for the work, I was keen to find flaws in what must surely be the product of an amateur. The writing is excellent and a pleasure to read, the knowledge of Irish history broad and detailed, the treatment evenhanded and not particualry Irish-centric ( the author is well aware of and mentions how Ireland fit into pan-European events ). Even in the aforementioned instance about the decline of shillelagh use the author got around to mentioning the firearm as an obvious factor, along with Irish republicanism.
Recommended for anyone interested in 18th and 19th century Irish hisory. A thoroughly interesting and entertaining work about Irish military, sport and social history. For those looking for a manual on shillelagh technique, the author originally planned that to be part two of this book, and is presumably working on it to be published separately.
I bought my friend a blackthorn cudgel for his birthday this year and got this book to go with it, along with the one on Irish Gangs and Stick Fighting. I started thumbing through the book and became so enthralled I bought my own e-copy of it then eventually bought myself a very striking blackthorn walking stick. I highly recommend this book, it is really fascinating and many of the stories related within conjur up vivid and exciting images in the reader's mind!
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