slang term supposedly denoting a man's inability to perform sexually after consuming an excessive amount of whiskey). He soon suffered a serious neck injury after botching a hip toss, sidetracking his career for two years. Farrelly developed his wrestling character by drawing on Celtic mythology, moving away from Irish stereotypes of lucky charms, leprechauns, and alcoholism while aiming to portray a fiann, a type of mythical Irish warrior. Having attended an Irish-speaking school, he was aware of the four cycles of Irish mythology and, inspired by the artwork of Jim Fitzpatrick, incorporated sword- and axe-wielding imagery into his gimmick. This included the design of his own pendant, the , which combines the Celtic cross with a Celtic War sword to illustrate his character's "indigenous origins with a hybrid of warrior strength matched with a strong ethical centre". European independent circuit Irish Whip Wrestling (2004–2006) In May 2004, still using the ring name Sheamus O'Shaunessy, Farrelly returned to wrestling at the newly opened Irish Whip Wrestling (IWW) school in Dublin. He then made his debut match for the promotion at their Mount Temple show on 9 July, facing Mark Burns in a winning effort. He went on to win a battle royal the following month. O'Shaunessy spent the rest of the year engaged in a rivalry with Vid Vain after losing to his tag team partner Joey Cabray the same night he won the battle royal. On 22 and 23 October they traded wins, leading to O'Shaunessy recruiting help from CJ Summers to help defeat the tag team on 24 October. O'Shaunessy was still unsuccessful to defeat Vain in singles action the following day. Despite these losses, his impressive showings earned him a place against Alex Shane in a guest match for the Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA) British Heavyweight Championship. Although he put on a proficient exhibit and came close to win, his friend Red Vinny interfered in the match and cost him the championship. In March 2005, he avenged this loss by teaming with Raven to defeat Shane and Vinny. This victory was part of a winning streak over the end of March where O'Shaunessy wrestled twice a day on 24, 25, 26 – including an 11-man Rumble win – and 27 March with a standard tag match and a ten-man tag team match. This series of victories, aside from one loss by disqualification to Vain, put him to a