Hammacher Schlemmer sells blackthorn shillelaghs, now. Plus, they have an unlimited return policy as long as you keep the packing slip.

If you used a shovel handle odds are that it's hickory. most are. hickory is an incredibly tough wood. you might also look into ordering osage orange wood if you want an extremely tough wood. it grows in the midwest and south from missouri to kansas, oklahoma, texas, and northern louisiana. it has been transplanted to many places though. some of the toughest wood known to man. as far as traditionally though i would guess that they would have been made from oak, ash, or maybe even douglas fir heartwood?

I have quite a collection of walking sticks, some are ornamental and some are functional and some are both. It all depends on what you are looking for. I have one of the Cold Steel Shillelaghs I bought it because I wanted a Shillelagh but wasn't quite ready to spend the money for a "real" one. It's functional, looks pretty good and I know if I mess it up too bad it can be replaced without much hassle.

The thing is extremely tough, I busted out a couple of windshields at my scrap yard just to see what it would do to the stick, nothing more then a scratch here and a scratch there. The only negative thing I can say about the stick is the the brown part of the head is just painted on and has a tendency to flake off if you drop it.