The Sunday Game - The Ancient Sport of Hurling

Posing in front of the hurling statue (the flags show the colors of Kilkenny and Tipperary)

Yesterday, my roommate Hakon and I witnessed a notable team sports feat that we had little to no knowledge of coming into Ireland. Kilkenny Hurling became only the second team in the 125 year history of the Gaelic Athletic Association to win the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final, an exciting sporting event few outside Ireland are familiar with, for the fourth time in a row.

When I first arrived in Dublin, my cab driver from the airport to my hotel pointed out Croke Park, a massive stadium just north of the River Liffey that holds close to 86,000 spectators. He told me the stadium was solely used for the tournament of the Gaelic games, which includes Gaelic football and Hurling, two sports I knew nothing about. The Gaelic games, he explained to me, are the pride of Ireland and involve these two ancient sports that are only really played in Ireland. The most impressive thing about the games is the pride involved. Each of the 32 counties has a team for each sports and the participants who are skilled athletes in their own right play for pride alone. That's right, these athletes participate in these brutal sporting events (more on that later) without being paid a dime. Tough to believe coming from a country where a MLB pitcher who throws maybe once a week can make $25 million a year. In this aspect, the Gaelic Games are inspiring to say the least and the fact that the players play for fun and for pride is displayed emotionally by the participants after each win or loss.

To the cab driver, I pretended to have a general idea of the sports; Gaelic football is like rugby mixed with soccer and Hurling is like field hockey. However, it was only later in anticipation of the Sunday Game (the Hurling final) that I became acquainted with the game of hurling via YouTube. There is a great three-part video series explaining the rules, skills, scoring, etc. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AM-kB1e96CA).

Generally speaking, hurling is like a mixture between field hockey and lacrosse. It is played with a flat stick made of ash somewhat resembling a much wider version of a field hockey stick. The field is about 1 to 1 1/2 times the size of a soccer field and at each end, there is a goal topped by two goal posts sort of like American football goal posts. There are 15 players to a side; usually 6 forwards, 8 defensemen and a goalie. The players try to score goals by hitting the ball past the goalie, worth three points, or point by hitting the ball through the goal posts. This is much easier said than done because the gameis full contact (think ice hockey-like checking) and the sticks are used to hit oppenents as often as hitting the ball (think lacrosse). The players can use their hands to catch and pass the ball but cannot carry the ball in their hand for more than four steps. They may carry the ball on the stick or bounce it on the stick while running. This all makes for a very exciting full contact sport that is loved in Ireland.

Before I even knew what hurling was, I was told by my friend Richie to try and get into a pub as close to the park to watch the game as possible so I could have a better idea of the importance of the final event. Hakon and I left our house around 12:30 on Sunday for the 3:30 game to try and make our way down to the stadium. Despite the miserable, pouring rain, the route from the historic O'Connell Street down to the stadium was packed with fans of both teams proudly displaying their colors. Along the way were souvenir vendors selling (soaking wet) team apparel, flags and other novelties. We were still blocks away from the stadium when we decided to turn around and head back up to O'Connell Street because fans were spilling out the pubs around the stadium onto the sidewalks, some trying to escape the rain and others trying to enjoy a pint. Instead, we found a quiet pub on O'Connell called Murrays serving up a Thanksgiving-like buffet of meat and veggies smothered in gravy. This was perfect because by the time the game started, we had a great seat in front of the tele and a (more than) full belly.

Part of the Sunday Game crowd

The game was an exciting back-and-forth match between Tipperary and Kilkenny counties. There were many big hits, impressive shots and lead changes throughout the game. Despite many great attempts by Tipperary in the second half, the two sole goals, worth three points each, did not come until very late in the game and were scored by Kilkenny when it seemed like they did not have a chance of coming back. These goals and the outstanding performance of their goalie gave Kilkenny their fourth Senior Hurling Championship in a row.

Watching the game and being a part of the crowd in the pouring rain gave me an idea of what a proud country Ireland is. Although Ireland was once a much larger nation before the massive outmigration waves, they have done their best to preserve the elements of their culture that make them different from the rest of Europe (the Gaelic language which is everywhere is another great example). Although these elements of their society may seem minor in the big picture, they give Ireland its own identity and the Irish people something to be proud of. As a visitor to Ireland, I am very interested in the culture that exists here and the differences between Ireland and the United States and learning from those differences. This is one of the reasons I am taking a beginner's course in the Gaelic language which is offered for free at UCD. I think to come to Ireland or any foreign country for that matter and not seek out both cultural differences and similarities is a terrible mistake that many tourists make. Understanding these differences and similarities, on the other hand, can be beneficial in helping you appreciate others and even inspire pride in your own culture, even if that culture is not thousands of years old. This is a big part of my experience in Dublin and something I will no doubt touch on in later posts.