nearly there...

i am at the airport using the Telus crappy Wi-Fi. slow.

the shillelagh was brought over from Ireland by my Great Grandfather in the first half of the 1800’s. his name was Patrick and was a very large, brutal looking man. his image survived into the 20th century by means of a tintype photograph. unfortunately, in the mid-1970’s a massive warehouse fire in Chatham, Ontario, destroyed that family heirloom along with countless other Hogan treasures. when told of the conflagration, my father experienced what doctors later labeled a heart “episode”.

sunday mornings after mass my Great Grandfather Patrick would practise his shillelagh skills with other men of the congregation. men, two hundred pounds plus, cracking each other about with these formidable weapons... all just a bit of fun.

the shillelagh was hewn from the Blackthorn tree. i also have a cane from the same tree that was used by Great Grandfather Patrick.

the shillelagh was developed during the British rule of southern Ireland when Irish men were banned from owning conventional weapons. sticks with a natural knot on the end could easily be discarded or camouflaged as a walking stick. in fact, all current shillelaghs look more like a walking stick than an effective skull crusher. the knot of Great Grandfather Patrick’s shillelagh was nearly the size of a man’s head and, when swung properly like an awl, would most definitely have a shattering effect on an unfortunate opponent.


Irish men equipped with the shillelagh were known as the Rapparees.

one hundred and fifty years before Great Grandfather Patrick Hogan came to Canada, an ancestor of his gained fame not with a shillelagh but with his riding skills. Galloping Hogan was a Rapparee and a scout for the great Irish war hero, Patrick Sarsfield.

in the late 1600’s, during a British siege of the town of Limerick, Galloping Hogan lead an ambush on a English artillery train, utterly destroying it and ending the siege. over three hundred years later the boulders scattered by the explosions are still visible in the surrounding fields. his knowledge of the countryside and his riding skills all lead to the victory and solidified Galloping Hogan's place in Irish history.

thirty years ago Matthew Culligan-Hogan retraced Galloping Hogan's charge on the artillery train and wrote a book about his experiences.
at some point in the next few years i intend to follow in Matthew’s footsteps and visit Hogan’s Glen. There, in the glen, is a permanent marker describing Galloping Hogan’s ride into history.


our family have a few other items that were brought over the waters from Ireland. the creamer has a small chip but is otherwise intact and quite beautiful. there are a few other items such as a woven rocker that was used to soothe infants to sleep and a letter writing box.