| Hurling history  In
the week when the GAA of Britain is encouraging more young people to take
to the hurling field, Young Gaels returns to the classroom for a history
lesson on the origins of one the world’s fastest sports.
The first mention of hurling was in a story about a match played over
3,000 years ago. A mythical tribe called the Firbolg ruled Ireland. They
played a hurling match against an invading tribe the Tuatha De Danann.
The Firbolg won.
The most famous hurler of all was Setanta, later called Cú Cuchulainn
—Hound of Culann. He killed a huge watchdog with one shot from his
hurley and ball. In ancient times the laws in Ireland were known as the
Brehon Laws. These laws mention compensation for anyone injured or even
killed by a hurley or a sliotar.
The Normans invaded Ireland in the 12th century. The Normans were originally
from France but they had settled in England and Wales. They came to Ireland
from there. Their king in England tried to ban hurling in an attempt to
stamp out Irish culture, but he didn’t succeed.
Hurling was strong in Ireland for many centuries. Gaelic chieftains
and later the new English landlords supported the game. Often they had
their own teams of paid hurlers the only time hurling had been a professional
sport.
At the end of the 18th century there was a worldwide movement of poor
people looking to improve their rights. In France the French Revolution
happened. In Ireland there was the 1798 Rebellion. This led to suspicion
between landlords and tenants. Landlords were no longer organising hurling
matches for their tenants. Then there was a Great Famine in Ireland in
the middle of the 19th century. The main food of the poor people at the
time was potatoes. Potatoes got a disease called blight and they rotted.
People were starving. It affected hurling as many people were sick, died
and emigrated.
Also, fighting at matches was giving hurling a bad name and other sports
were becoming popular by the late 1860s nearly every town in Ireland had
its own cricket club.
Today hurling is regarded as one of the fastest and most skillful sports
in the world. In Ireland counties such as Kilkenny, Clare and Tipperary
regard hurling as their number one GAA sport. Hurling is played in clubs,
schools and universities in London, Warwickshire and Scotland. Due to
the nature of the sport many young players are encouraged to pick up a
hurl at a young age to refine the unique skills of the sport.
Did you know? It is believed that an Irish priest set-up a hurling club
in Toronto, Canada shortly after the Great Famine hit Ireland and called
it St. Patrick’s. The sport was very popular with locals but they
found it increasingly difficult to play during the cold winter months.
They soon devised a form of hurling on ice which later developed into
ice hockey. |
