An Taoiseach hands over first synthetic hurley

[Catch the high ball]

An Taoiseach Brian Cowen has announced on behalf of County Offaly company Cúltec that the first synthetic hurley to ever be used at Croke Park is to secure a spot in the GAA museum.

An Taoiseach made the announcement at a special ceremony in Croke Park today, Monday, June 14 at 1.30pm.

The Cúltec hurley, which has been designed to bring consistency to the game, made history when three of the All-Ireland champs from County Offaly's Junior camogie team took to the Croke Park field with a Cúltec hurley.

To mark the memorable occasion the camogie champions handed back a winning Cúltec hurley signed by the County Offaly squad to the Cúltec team and this is the hurl that has secured a spot in the Croke Park museum.

Brian Cowen said: "It is always a pleasure to come to Croke Park. These grounds evoke a senseof pride in both our sporting heritage and the ecumenical spirit with which the GAA have embraced other sporting codes.
However, for most followers of Gaelic games, there is nothing to beat the sense of joy and pride felt at seeing one's own county colours in this hallowed place.
Today, we are looking at the bigger picture and county affiliations can be set to one side as we celebrate an exciting innovation that benefits hurlers and camogie players whatever jersey they don. This is, of course, the new Cúltec hurley which I am delighted to be launching today. I would like to commend the Cúltec team, including Tom Wright, John and Gerry Grehan and Steven Lee for all the hard work they put into its design."

Cúltec combines the best of the old with the new and shows how modern technology can enhance a much loved and ancient game. The hurley will feature in the GAA Museum, testifying to its importance for hurling and camogie in the 21st Century.

However, while the Cúltec hurley made its first appearance at GAA HQ in the hands of the County Offaly champs it is fast gaining momentum as the hurley of choice by some of the top players in the country and has since been used many times at Croke Park.
County players such as Dublin's Kevin Flynn, Pat Kenny from Wexford and Diarmuid Horan from Offaly now all take to the competitive field with Cúltec hurleys in hand.

Diarmuid, whose Father skippered Offaly to its first All-Ireland in 1981, said: "I prefer them to ash; there is a cleaner strike and a bit more distance than the average hurley. But, the real value is consistency as if you break one you replace with an exact copy." He added: "I love a light hurley and the Cúltec doesn't change - it is the same on a wet day as a dry one."

The brains behind the Cúltec Hurley are Offaly businessmen John Grehan and Tom Wright.

Retired school teacher Tom said it was his great desire to see consistency in the game that he loved and he hoped that in time hurling and camogie players all over the country would give the Cúltec hurley a go.

Tom has had a life-long interest in hurling having played in all grades. His teaching career spanned 40 years and during all this time he coached school teams as well as underage hurling and camogie teams in his local club.

"It was the great difficulty in obtaining suitable, quality and consistent hurleys which led us to investigate the possibility of manufacturing the perfect hurley," explained Tom.

John Grehan whose background included Materials Engineering said: "Almost every other sport in the world has benefitted substantially from synthetic materials. Tennis rackets, golf clubs, fishing rods, snooker cues, ski equipment and even hockey and cricket have exploited the new technologies. So why not hurling?"

On the day he said he particularly wanted to thank everyone at the newly revamped Croke Park Museum for securing the Cúltec a place in the illustrious GAA history books.

The Cúltec hurley is the result of seven years research and development combining space age materials and the latest manufacturing techniques.Research and Development of the Cúltec hurley was done in Ferbane, County Offaly. Testing and performance analysis was carried out at the Nanotechnology and Materials Research Centre attached to Athlonne IT. Having carefully examined these results the GAA gave the Cúltec Hurley its seal of approval.

[seafoid]

What about the Wavin ? the great vibrating Wavin hurl where the waves would continue up your arm long after the ball sailed over the bar.  Was that not synthetic ?  Is it to be airbrushed out of history ? $

   

[Bord na Mona man]

Did anyone ever use a Wavin in Crow Park or in any inter county match?

[seafoid]

They were very popular there at one stage. I would be surprised if they never featured in an inter county match.  That antrim half foward who took out 3 offaly players in Croke park a few years ago - did he not have a wavin ?

[Bord na Mona man]

They were very popular there at one stage. I would be surprised if they never featured in an inter county match.  That antrim half foward who took out 3 offaly players in Croke park a few years ago - did he not have a wavin ?

Yeah, I think he hurled with a plastic one all right!

[seafoid]

I like the bas on that hurl but the nyuck looks a bit off.

The Taoiseach should have hung on to the other hurl and put a bit of smacht on Seanie Fitz. A few belts around the ankles a la some all star  corner backs would really help with the repayment of that €110m loan.  Nothing like a jostle in the ribs with the butt of the hurl to tell him what's what. 

[Catch the high ball]

Have any of you's used these sticks yet?

[awfulynice]

I used one about 3 years ago, I remember lads at the club were laughing at me...fast forward 3 years later and with the recession, im seeing a new one every week. Our goalie has got one recently and his puck outs have increased about 20 - 30 yards, although i didnt notice a massive difference myself.

[Shamrock Shore]

I tried a Wavin hurl once in 1979. Jazes, they were cat.

[Milltown Row2]

my club has used them for the past two years. in our intermediate final we had 4/5 lads using them. they are a grand hurl though you need to hit the ball in the sweet spot to get that extra distance. they do break but they will last considerably longer than your typical Ash hurl.

so i think Naomh Gall was the first to use them at Croke Park!!!!

[Ash Smoker]

Luckily the Wavin never took off.
There would have been a string of fatalities.

[seafoid]

Where does the ash for hurls come from nowadays ? I read somewhere that most of it is imported. Are there any ash plantations going or will it be imported ash for the forseeable future?

I love the feel of a new hurl and the rich green on the bas after the first few pulls- will the synthetic version be able to replicate this? will it be to hurling what synthetic CDOs were to banking?     

[Milltown Row2]

A lot of the hurly makers are bringing the Ash in from eastern Europe, but the quality is different, as the Irish Ash grows obviously in a different climate. so the wood is different to what we have been used to.

Ash plantations have been a priority in Ireland lately, with benefits to planters

[The Wedger]

Is there any rule to stop you removing the timber on the inner part of the hurley bas and replacing it tennis racquet strings?

[The Claw]

From the Irish times:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0719/1224275018662.html

HURLING IS set to become a truly Irish game again in 2018 when the last of the Hungarian, Danish and Welsh ash from which most hurleys are now made will be replaced by Irish-grown wood.

Currently Irish forests supply only 500 cubic metres of ash and 1,600 cubic metres has to be imported to meet the annual demand for between 360,000 and 400,000 hurleys a year.

Forest Service official Mark Twomey said if a special grant for thinning ash forests continues and foresters continue to reach targets of "hurleys per hectare", Ireland will be self sufficient in 2018.

Declaring "the game is safe", he said the aim was to get an 80 per cent recovery of suitable ash from sites. "Small volumes are already on stream and significant volumes will start from 2014 onwards where there will be Irish ash for 24 per cent of production."

He estimated self-sufficiency from 2018 and said the Forest Service had funded sufficient ash plantations for hurley demand.

Michael Somers, Teagasc forestry development officer, told an ash hurley workshop in Thurles recently that since 1990 an average of 670 hectares of ash had been planted here annually to help meet the demand for hurleys.

"There has been problems with using imported ash from central Europe, Denmark, England and Wales, and players have been giving out about it," he said.

"Homegrown ash appears to be the most suitable for the sticks and we have been working with Coillte and the Irish Guild of Ash Hurley Makers to ensure the best quality of ash is available."

Mr Somers said demand for hurleys had been estimated at 360,000 a year but there was now a global demand for the sticks. "For instance, there are seven new hurling clubs after being established in Western Australia and new ones in Sydney as well and all over the States."

He said the continuation of the thinning grants in forests was essential if the targets were to be met and said ash from trees aged between 20-40 years old was considered best for hurley manufacturing.

He said the conference, which was attended by more than 120 delegates, was told by the guild they wanted a certification system so GAA clubs would know the trees used had not been felled illegally. "They want a system similar to what applies to the rain forests and said there is a lot of illegal felling of ash, which they oppose."