The 151-year-old shillelagh that was snatched out of Queen Anne resident and then Society of Friends of St. Patrick President Mike McQuaid’s car outside his Queen Anne home last week was indeed returned on Friday night outside of City Hall during the Laying of the Line ceremony.
(Photo courtesy of Society of Friends of St. Patrick, via their Facebook page).
The most interesting twist to the story is, however, that the anonymous do-gooders behind the shillelagh’s safe return turned out to be the Seafair Pirates, who produced both the missing artifact and the alleged culprit.
“The Seafair Pirates produced both the shillelagh and a clown – who evidently was the culprit. I’m told it may have been a Seafair Clown. The clown was “cuffed” and hauled off in what looked like an unmarked police car,” McQuaid wrote to us earlier today.
McQuaid had offered up a $5,000 reward for the return of the shillelagh, but he said the Seafair Pirates, acting quite the opposite to what their title implies, “respectfully declined to accept” the check.
“I was successfully duped by a clown and Seattle’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration and parade were saved by the Seafair Pirates. I still have no idea how the clown got into my car. I do know that we have a Seafair clown on our committee,” McQuaid wrote.
On Saturday evening after the parade McQuaid, as outgoing president of the Society of the Friends of St. Patrick, passed the century-and-half-year-old shillelagh, thought to be the oldest of its kind in the Pacific Northwest, on to new president Bob Larkin, continuing a 70-year-old tradition.
So there you have it. The St. Patty’s Day parade was saved. A 70-year-old tradition was continued. The 151-year-old shillelagh has been returned to its rightful owners. All thanks to the Seafair Pirates.