About

The Walking Stick Journal is an independent publication about Irish walking sticks, shillelaghs, and the long, quiet tradition of stick-making across Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. It is not affiliated with any single maker, retailer, or industry body.

Editorial standards

Articles are researched against academic, museum, and dictionary sources where they exist. Factual claims that haven't been independently verified are flagged in our drafts and held back from publication; if you spot a claim that should have been flagged and wasn't, please write in.

Outbound links are real. We don't use affiliate links, and our recommendations of small makers carry no commercial relationship.

Photography

Some product photography on this site is courtesy of McCaffrey Crafts, a multi-generational stick maker in County Kerry, used with their written permission. These photographs are credited individually wherever they appear. We deliberately interleave them with public-domain botanical illustrations, historical engravings, and our own diagrams — the journal covers many makers and traditions, not one.

The makers directory

The makers directory lists a small number of small, authentic stick makers we think readers should know about. Each entry includes the maker's location, what they specialise in, an honest note on lead times and cost, and a direct link to their site. No affiliate tags. No prices we can't verify. Inclusion is editorial, not paid.

Contact

Corrections, references, and suggestions: editor@thewalkingstickjournal.com. If you're a maker who'd like to be considered for the directory, please send your craft details and references — we read everything.