BALL GAMES

I was rummaging in the garage today, trying to work up the enthusiasm to start the long overdue clearance project, when I came across this :

It's a hurling ball ! Hurling is a national sport in Ireland.

The ball is called a " Slioter" ( pronounced Slitter). The game is played by striking the ball with a hurley which is a stick made from ash and looks like this :

My brothers and I played hurling from a very young age. We played it through our school years and for many years after we left school. It is a very fast skillful game and demands high fitness levels. It was also a dangerous game in which we saw some serious injuries - in our case we escaped with minor bruises and permanently skinned knuckles.

The game is played on a pitch which is slightly longer than a soccer pitch. A team numbers 15 players , including a goalkeeper, and the line-up is as shown in the diagram on the left. You can imagine how crowded the pitch becomes with 30 players, all swinging hurleys with an action similar to a golf swing.  So I'm not kidding when I say it is a dangerous game and not for the faint hearted ! 

The game still has a huge national following with county and provincial championships leading on a knockout basis to the All - Ireland Fnal at Croke Park in Dublin. The occasion has the same aura as the Cup Final at Wembley and attracts crowds of 80,000 +.

As a very young boy (10/11) I would travel off with friends to support our local or our county (Cork) side sporting the Red and White colours of Cork.

It's amazing how when you come to consider clearing the garage or the loft, and you begin to sift through the stuff, you find these objects that can set you off on flights of nostalgia.

Suddenly it's time to eat and you think ........... I'll try again tomorrow !!!

Comments

[TomLR]

It is one of my ambitions to have a hurley. I have wanted one for about 3 years. An unreputable contact of mine has one (along with all his fingers) and I just love the weight and feel of it. Like a beautiful piece of typography, I imagine. His is primitive (he's from Cork as well) - but he's also a carpenter and I keep asking him to make one for me so I can put it in my shed along with all the other satisfyingly weighted things I have bought for my museum.

[Harry C]

Hello Tom - you are absolutely right. A good hurley is a work of art. It's got to have the right feel and balance.They are made from finest mountain ash and the grain should run continuously from the handle down to and through to the 'boss'(the wide bit where the ball is struck) I remember a guy called Willie Sloane who made hurleys in Youghal (my home town) and he was quite an expert. But just when you found the stick of your dreams
it would be shattered in a clash for the ball with the opposition and you start all over again.

[Colman]

I like the idea of constantly being on the look out for the perfect hurley, but at the same time knowing that should you find it, that there's a good chance it'll be broken doing what it was made to do.

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