Text information added to HEMA Intro to Longsword Classroom (Text)

Sharing with you a sample video from the kick off of our Intro / Bata (Shillelagh) Classroom. Please join us!

The Whiteboys were an 18th-century Irish agrarian secret society who used violent tactics to defend tenant-farmer land rights. They frequently clashed with authorities and landlords. During these conflicts, members utilized traditional Irish shillelaghs—dense, knotted fighting sticks made of blackthorn or oak—as formidable weapons.The WhiteboysOriginating in the 1760s, the "Buachaillí Bána" (Whiteboys) were named for the white smocks they wore over their clothes during night raids.They were protesting against rack-rents, evictions, tithes to the Church of Ireland, and oppressive priest dues.Their activities, known as "Whiteboyism," often involved destroying fences, attacking livestock, and issuing threatening letters to landlords.Because carrying traditional, formal weapons was heavily restricted under British Penal Laws, they relied on everyday rural tools for their defense. The Irish Shillelagh. The shillelagh is both a traditional walking stick and a legendary Irish club, historically cut from the durable root-wood of blackthorn bushes or oak. It was often associated with a traditional Irish martial art known as bataireacht (stick fighting). Under the Penal Laws (c. 1690s–1829), Irish Catholics were barred from carrying weapons, so the shillelagh served as a brilliant legal workaround—appearing to be a harmless walking aid but functioning as a devastating weapon. Many were skillfully cured, rubbed with butter, or even smoked in a chimney to harden the wood, and some were even hollowed out and weighted with molten lead.

A wee bit about our SKOOL page and options for virtual training / learning.

Hello All and welcome existing and new members! Please take a look at the Classrooms we offer: Intro to Irish Stick ☘️ one time cost $30 Irish Shillelagh (Bata) Intro to Intermediate ☘️ one time cost $50 ☘️Irish Stick - Subscription - registration now open for July. This is a monthly cost format. HEMA - Italian Longsword - FREE New content is added periodically at no additional charge once you have joined the classroom. Feel free to ask members currently in classrooms what the think of the content, format and quality. We are proud of what we have built and are building here.