The Mystery Continues

As promised, I've been trying to decode the word paddywack or paddy wack or paddy whack etc. from the "This Old Man" nursery rhyme. But, I've been unable to come up with any concrete answer. Here are the theories I've stumbled upon on the internets...

• According to one Yahoo! surfer, it is connected to the Irish mob, as in "Oh my lucky charms, it was the paddy who whacked him."
• Another Yahoo! Answers devotee believes paddy is slang for policeman in the UK, so it literally means a hit from a policeman.
• More than one person in word discussion forums was convinced it means a smack on the butt.
• Someone called LouisaB on wordreference.com asserts "'Paddywhack' is a regrettably racist English expression dating from around the 17th century and means an Irishman - deriving from the Erse name 'Padraig', rendered in English originally as 'Patterick' and more recently as 'Patrick'. In context, 'paddywhack' nearly always means someone who's drunk, argumentative or looking for a fight."
• Someone by the name of FlowerPower claims "Paddy, applied to an Irishman, described Irish comedians who performed in British music halls. They inevitably used a broad paddle or slapstick, harmlessly applied to the buttocks of the other comic. A paddy whack became synonymous with a mild punishment. The term slapstick, of course, went on to apply to broad, physical humor. Paddy as a term for an Irishman. At one time since most policemen were Irish they would call the police a paddy. So the wagon that came and arrested people was called a Paddy wagon. Another take on that was also derogatory because the Irish were known as Paddy's and drank alot so that when a group of them got together and were arrested for drunkenness they would have to call the Paddy wagon to arrest all of them."
• On WikiAnswers I came up with this bit of information: "Paddywhacks are muscles in the necks of some livestock that support the weight of the head to ease the strain on the animal."

Jerry Springer Final Thoughts? I think I'm just going to avoid using it, unless someone wants to email Professor Paddywhack and ask him to weigh-in.

All this research has made me so tired, I can't even bother to research the meaning of "to boot" to-day.