Three Thousand Years of Hurling
Opinion

 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.]