![]() ![]() Until the 1793 Catholics were banned from serving in the army. It is also said that boiscín might have appeared as a way to train potential soldiers for service in the Wild Geese regiments. ![]() While the Penal Laws probably made the shillelagh a much popular option for self-defense, it cannot explain the fact that Protestants were also known to use it or that similar weapons were used in other parts of Europe where such laws were non-existent. This theory follows a similar popular belief that the people of Okinawa started using farm implements when the Japanese banished weapons, a theory which is not entirely true as this ban concerned mostly firearms. It is said then that the Irish simply chose to carry walking sticks that could double as clubs, the famous shillelaghs, to avoid being accused of possessing weapons. The respect of this last rule was insured by Protestant raiding parties who randomly inspected villages in search of hidden weapons. warhorses), could not serve in the military and, of course, had no right to own any weapons. The laws were especially targeted to remove most powers of rebellion from the Catholics: No right to own any land, no right to own horses of a certain height (i.e. The Irish Catholics had throughout the 17 th century attempted several uprisings and the British were keen on putting an end to it. The Penal Laws were a series of rules enacted by the British Crown following the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. It is believed by some that the Penal Laws were mostly responsible for its appearance. It was practised mostly by the working class, and only started to attract the attention of the elites – who were most of the time the ones responsible for written history – by the mid 18 th century, at a time where the practice of stick fighting among the working class of the rest of Europe was becoming rarer and that violence as a source of enjoyment began to be frowned upon especially by the upper classes. Like many stick fighting arts, bataireacht was a vernacular fighting art. It is even harder to document the early history of Irish stick because of the people who practised it or rather those who didn’t. Mankind has been using sticks for centuries and clubs similar to those used in bataireacht were found in Bronze Age archaeological excavations. Like many old martial arts the origins of Irish stick are extremely hard if not impossible to determine. It will be part of a book to be published on the subject of the history and techniques of this art. This article is meant as a complete basic overview of the history and practice of Irish stick. ![]() This relation to fencing does not necessarily mean a connection to sword-fighting as fencing could be used at the time to denote other martial arts aside from swordsmanship. Boiscín can be translated as “fencing” according to the 1977 dictionary of Niall Ó Dónaill. Bataireacht would then be the “sticking” or “cudgelling”. While bata usually refers to a “stick”, reacht being the equivalent to “ing”. No clear explanation is given on its origin, but Bhaldraithe translates it plainly as “singlestick”. Where does the name come from? Bataireacht is found in the 1959 Irish dictionary of the famous Irish language scholar Tomás de Bhaldraithe. It is known around certain circles such as Historical European Martial Arts but even in Ireland you will find very few who know of its existence and even fewer who practice it. The art called bataireacht or boiscín is a particular martial art, not only because of its history but also because it has only recently begun to rise back from nearly total extinction. You’ve probably heard of Irish stick before or at least if you clicked on this article you are no doubt curious about what it really is. What is Irish stick fighting? By Maxime Chouinard ![]()
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