The origins of Hurling

[ONeill]

    Three Thousand Years of Hurling


    We in the GAA are fond of claiming the bragging rights to having the world's oldest sport in hurling, but the history of our national game is not always portrayed accurately. 

    Some argue that field hockey evolved from hurling, others say that hurling evolved from field hockey, and there is a theory that lacrosse may have Irish roots. There was even a theory doing the rounds that hurling is an import from Cornwall, but that is a myth that was caused by a few badly-researched articles about a Cornish custom of 'hurling the silver ball' and bears no resemblance whatsoever to the clash of the ash. 

    One of the causes of the fanciful 'hurling as a hockey descendant' theory is the distribution of the game in Ireland around the sixteenth century. Many of the hurling strongholds of the time, such as Kilkenny, Waterford, Wexford, East Cork and Cork City, Limerick City, East Galway, and North Tipperary contained British army garrison towns. It was supposed that the British brought hockey with them, and this was copied by the locals.

    This theory does not stand up to much scrutiny. There is plenty of evidence of hurling in Ireland, such as the famous and legendary exploits of Cuchulainn, long before the British plantations. There are also the accounts of the Battle of Moytura in the thirteenth century BC, where the native Fir Bolg prepared for battle against the Tuatha de Danaan with a hurling match. Mann, son of the mute King of Leinster, was given the ability to talk with the accidental blow of a hurley during a game around the year 500 BC. Even written evidence of the game exists dating from the fifth century AD in the Brehon laws. 

    The concept of hitting a small ball with a big stick is a universal phenomenon. It is quite possible that what we know as the modern sports of hurling, hockey, lacrosse, bandy, shinty, and the others evolved in parallel. Stick-and-ball games are noted in ancient times in Greece, as well as throughout Persia and the Middle East. Even the ancient Aztec Indians down in South America, having little or no contact with the rest of the world, were at it in some form.

    As with all aspects of history, twenty-first century labels cannot be applied to ancient pastimes, so to describe all stick and ball games played in ancient Ireland as 'hurling' and those in ancient Scotland as 'shinty' are a bit misleading. Today the two games exist as distinct and clearly-defined codes, but the lines between them get a lot more blurred the further back in time you go. Prior to codification and the foundation of the GAA, teams would agree on the rules on a match-by-match basis, so there was an infinite variety of games being played throughout the land.

    It was during the 'golden age of hurling,' around the 18th century, that the landed gentry became the driving force behind organised hurling in Ireland. Local aristocrats promoted matches as gambling events. Many landlords of the day maintained hurling teams to challenge other landlords, and there is evidence of such games being played throughout what is now the core hurling region.

    Meanwhile, farther to the north, a similar game was being played in Derry, Antrim, Down, and (get ready for this) parts of Armagh. The orchard county may languish in Division 3 of today's National Hurling League, but hurling (or some variation of it) definitely existed there centuries ago. A townland near my birthplace in north Armagh is called Aghacommon, meaning 'hurling field.' In my Irish classes I was taught that the Irish word for hurling is 'iomanacht.' In my dealings with a local shinty team here in California I have learned that the Scots Gaelic word for shinty is 'cammanacht.' A bit more research into the northern version of the pastime reveals that the game played in Ulster was called 'commons,' and it shared a lot of traits with shinty besides having a similar name. Let's not forget that this was all before the invention of the printing press and the standardisation of language that came with it, so when one man says 'commons' and another says 'cammanacht,' they could well be talking about the very same thing.

    We also know that in ancient times before planes, trains and automobiles, it was more convenient to travel large distances by water than to travel by land, and it is a known fact that there was a lot of traffic and trade between Ireland and Scotland in those days, possibly as much there was inland. There are certain people in the north these days who make a big deal of this for political reasons, but it is worth noting nonetheless. In an age when travel to and from Scotland was commonplace, it is not unreasonable to suggest that the types of hurling played in Ulster were heavily influenced by the Scottish varieties of shinty. It would explain a great many things such as place names, and the fact that Antrim still hangs in there as an 'isolated' hurling county, struggling to keep up in a game the rules of which were drawn up from a southern perspective.

    © 2005

    [This is an opinion column and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Western Division Board.]

http://www.sfgaa.org/squareBall/article.php?article=6

I was once told that hurling isn't popular in places like Tyrone because the ancient High Kings and those after believed it was a bastardised Hockey/Cricket/English game, promoted by landloards etc. Eh?

[The Forfeit Point]

very interesting read thanks oneill

[fearglasmor]

A townland near my birthplace in north Armagh is called Aghacommon, meaning 'hurling field.' In my Irish classes I was taught that the Irish word for hurling is 'iomanacht.' In my dealings with a local shinty team here in California I have learned that the Scots Gaelic word for shinty is 'cammanacht.' A bit more research into the northern version of the pastime reveals that the game played in Ulster was called 'commons,' and it shared a lot of traits with shinty besides having a similar name. Let's not forget that this was all before the invention of the printing press and the standardisation of language that came with it, so when one man says 'commons' and another says 'cammanacht,' they could well be talking about the very same thing.

Sure isn't a hurley called a camán.

The connection with cricket is valid too. I know my own grandfather, who was born some time in the late 1800's played both cricket and hurling.

[tayto]

I was once told that hurling isn't popular in places like Tyrone because the ancient High Kings and those after believed it was a bastardised Hockey/Cricket/English game, promoted by landloards etc. Eh?

Huh? read a history of hurling a good while back. Cant rememeber the authors name. It said that there were two types of hurling, winter hurling - more like shinty-hockey and summer hurling which is what the GAA now plays. hurling has been in Ireland a lot longer then the english, there's numerious references as mentioned above, in legend and folklore aswell as int he brehon laws [no striking with the hurley]. how could it possibly be an english game, they were constantly trying to outlaw it.

[tayto]

A townland near my birthplace in north Armagh is called Aghacommon, meaning 'hurling field.' In my Irish classes I was taught that the Irish word for hurling is 'iomanacht.' In my dealings with a local shinty team here in California I have learned that the Scots Gaelic word for shinty is 'cammanacht.' A bit more research into the northern version of the pastime reveals that the game played in Ulster was called 'commons,' and it shared a lot of traits with shinty besides having a similar name. Let's not forget that this was all before the invention of the printing press and the standardisation of language that came with it, so when one man says 'commons' and another says 'cammanacht,' they could well be talking about the very same thing.

Sure isn't a hurley called a camán.

The connection with cricket is valid too. I know my own grandfather, who was born some time in the late 1800's played both cricket and hurling.

I read that shinty derived from the winter form of hurling. There was a huge crossover between Gaelic Ireland and Sctoland.

[spectator]

http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Article/639508

A Brief History of Hurling

Associated to Place: Celtia > articles -- by * Fenian Niafer (19 Articles), General Article

Hurling, which may have originated in Ireland, is the oldest of all European field games.

Hurling was originally a form of martial arts training before it was watered down and made a national sport. It is the oldest of all European field games and the fastest!

One of the earliest descriptions of hurling is given in the Battle of Moytura, when the Tuatha de Danaan went up against the Fir Bolg in a violent clash with many casualties that ended in a Fir Bolg victory. Early forms of hurling go back to the Iron Age. It was probably a part of the Tailtean Games, annual gatherings at Tara held more or less continuously from about 1800 BC through 1180 AD. The Youthful Exploits of Cuchulainn from Táin Bo Cuailgne (Cattle Raid of Cooley, Ulster Cycle) mentions "camán" which is "hurley" in Irish. According to these stories, Cuchulainn excelled at hurley. As a game, it gave young warriors a sense of combat and the chance to hone their fighting skills.

Hurling was cited in the Brehon Laws during the 8th century as a way to settle disputes, either one on one, or sometimes entire villages fought each other. Of course Brehon law covered compensation for the families of anyone killed during these match ups. Eventually hurling evolved into a feis game that grew in popularity through medieval times.

The medieval version had two teams working with hurleys (sticks) to get the sliotar (small ball) past the other team's goal. The ball was made of bronze, leatherbound wood, or hard-packed hair wrapped with twine. The best wood for the hurley was ash, a tapered stick to scoop the ball on one end, the other end wrapped with metal for a good gripping handle.

There were many futile attempts to outlaw hurling, either because of the risk of life and limb, or because it became so closely linked with faction-fighting. The Galway Statutes around 1527 finally succeeded in banning the sport, at least for awhile, and it was replaced by Gaelic football.

Two hundred years later, hurling came back with a vengeance, taken up by the gentry, who organized teams and leagues and toned down the original version by establishing strict rules. The Great Famine, however, put an end to the sport's renaissance.

The game returned once again when in 1884 the Gaelic Athletic Association made it the official game of Ireland, with established rules governing the leagues and games.


Another interesting article - follow the link below - claims the game may have origionated with the origional Celts in Egypt

http://www.settmourswamp.eastkingdom.org/mudpuppy/articles/history_of_hurling.html