Hurling

Not to be confused withcurlingorhurdling.

For the Cornish sport, seeCornish hurling.

Hurling

82,001 people at the2009 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship FinalbetweenKilkennyandTipperaryatCroke ParkinDublin
Highestgoverning body	Gaelic Athletic Association
First played	Prehistoric origin
Characteristics
Contact	Full
Team members	15 players per side substitutes are permitted
Mixed-sex	Camogieis the female variant
Equipment	Sliotar,hurley,helmet (not optional)
Presence
Olympic	Demonstration sport 1904
Paralympic	No

Hurling
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage
Country	Ireland
Reference	01263
Region	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	2018 (13th session)
List	Representative

Hurling(Irish:iománaíocht,iomáint) is an outdoorteam gameof ancientGaelicIrish origin, played by men and women (camogie for women). One of Ireland's nativeGaelic games,it shares a number of features withGaelic football,such as the field and goals, the number of players and muchterminology.The same game played by women is calledcamogie(camógaíocht), which shares a common Gaelic root.

The objective of the game is for players to use anash woodstick called ahurley(in Irish acamán,pronounced/ˈkæmən/or/kəˈmɔːn/) to hit a small ball called asliotar/ˈʃlɪtər/between the opponent's goalposts either over the crossbar for one point or under the crossbar into a net guarded by agoalkeeperfor three points. Thesliotarcan be caught in the hand and carried for not more than four steps, struck in the air or struck on the ground with the hurley. It can be kicked, or slapped with an open hand (the hand pass), for short-range passing. A player who wants to carry the ball for more than four steps has to bounce or balance thesliotaron the end of the stick (solo), and the ball can be handled only twice while in the player's possession.

Irish Lissarulla hurling sliotar

Provided that a player has at least one foot on the ground, he may make a shoulder-to-shoulder charge on an opponent who is in possession of the ball or is playing the ball, or when both players are moving in the direction of the ball.

No protective padding is worn by players. A plastic protective helmet with a faceguard is mandatory for all age groups as of 2010. The game has been described as "a bastion of humility", with player names absent from jerseys and a player's number decided by his position on the field.

A club hurling match in play

Hurling is administered by theGaelic Athletic Association(GAA). It is played throughout the worldand is a fixture of life in many parts of Ireland. Hurling has some popularity among members of theIrish diasporain North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Dubai and Argentina.It has featured regularly in art forms such asfilm, music and literature.The final of theAll-Ireland Senior Hurling Championshipwas listed in second place byCNNin its "10 sporting events you have to see live", after theOlympic Gamesand ahead of both theFIFA World CupandUEFA European Championship.After covering the1959 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship FinalbetweenKilkennyandWaterfordforBBC Television,English football commentatorKenneth Wolstenholmewas moved to describe hurling as his second favourite sport in the world.Alex Fergusonused footage of an All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final in an attempt to motivate his players during his time as manager ofPremier Leaguefootball clubManchester United.The players winced at the standard of physicality and intensity in which the hurlers engaged.In 2007,Forbesmagazine described the media attention and population multiplication ofThurlestown ahead of one of the game's annual provincial hurling finals as being "the rough equivalent of 30 million Americans watching a regionallacrossegame ".Financial TimescolumnistSimon Kuperwrote afterStephen Bennett's performance in the2020 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Finalthat hurling was "the best sport ever and if the Irish had colonised the world, nobody would ever have heard offootball".

UNESCOlists hurling as an element ofintangible cultural heritage.

Statistics

• A team comprises 15 players, or "hurlers"
• Thehurley/hurlis generally 24 to 36 inches (61 to 91 cm) in length
• The ball, known as asliotar,has a cork centre and a leather cover; it is between 69 and 72 mm (2.7 and 2.8 in) in diameter, and weighs between 110 and 120 g (3.9 and 4.2 oz)
• The goalkeeper's hurley/hurl usually has abas(the flattened, curved end) twice the size of other players' hurleys to provide some advantage against the fast movingsliotar
• A good strike with a hurley/hurl can propel the ball over 150 km/h (93 mph) in speed and 110 metres (361 ft) in distance.
• A ball hit over the bar is worth one point. A ball that is hit under the bar is called agoaland is worth three points.
• As of 2010, all players must wear helmets.

Rules

Playing field

Hurling pitch

Positions on field

A hurling pitch is similar in some respects to arugbypitch but larger. The grass pitch is rectangular, stretching 130–145 metres (140–160 yards) long and 80–90 m (90–100 yd) wide. There areH-shaped goalposts at each end, formed by two posts, which are usually 6–7 metres (20–23 feet) high, set 6.5 m (21 ft) apart, and connected 2.5 m (8.2 ft) above the ground by a crossbar. A net extending behind the goal is attached to the crossbar and lower goal posts. The same pitch is used forGaelic football;the GAA, which organises both sports, decided this to facilitate dual usage. Lines are marked at distances of 13 metres, 20 metres and 59 metres (41 metres for Gaelic football) from each end-line. Shorter pitches and smaller goals are used by youth teams.

Teams

See also:Gaelic football, hurling and camogie positions

Teams consist of fifteen players: a goalkeeper, three full backs, three half backs, two midfielders, three half forwards and three full forwards (see diagram). The panel is made up of 24–30 players and five substitutions are allowed per game. An exception can now be made in the case of a blood substitute being necessary. Blood substitutes are a result of one player needing medical treatment for a laceration, usually stitches, and another coming on as a temporary replacement while the injured player is tended to.

Helmets

A standard hurling helmet

From 1 January 2010, the wearing of helmets with faceguards became compulsory for hurlers at all levels. This saw senior players follow the regulations already introduced in 2009 at minor and under 21 grades. The GAA hopes to significantly reduce the number of injuries by introducing the compulsory wearing of helmets with full faceguards, both in training and matches. Hurlers of all ages, including those at nursery clubs when holding a hurley in their hand, must wear a helmet and faceguard at all times. Match officials will be obliged to stop play if any player at any level appears on the field of play without the necessary standard of equipment.

Duration, extra time, replays

Senior inter-county matches last 70 minutes (35 minutes per half). All other matches last 60 minutes (30 minutes per half). For teams under-13 and lower, games may be shortened to 50 minutes. Timekeeping is at the discretion of the referee who adds on stoppage time at the end of each half. In 2020, water breaks were brought in after the first 15 minutes in each half.

There are various solutions for knockout games that end in a draw, such as a replay, or what the rules refer to as "Winner on the Day" measures such as extra time (20 minutes), further extra time (10 more minutes), or a shoot-out.The application and details of these measures vary according to the importance of the match and the difficulty of scheduling possible replays, and can change from year to year. The general trend is that the GAA have been trying to reduce the need for replays, to ease scheduling.

Technical fouls

The following are considered technical fouls ( "fouling the ball" ):

• Picking the ball directly off the ground (instead it must be flicked up with the hurley)
• Throwing the ball (instead it must be "hand-passed": slapped with the open hand)
• Going more than four steps with the ball in the hand (it may be carried indefinitely on the hurley)
• Catching the ball three times in a row without it touching the ground (touching the hurley does not count)
• Putting the ball from one hand to the other
• Hand-passing a goal
• "Chopping" slashing downwards on another player's hurley
• Deliberately dropping the hurley or throwing it away.
• A 'square ball', entering the opponent's small rectangle prior to the ball entering it
• To cover or shield the ball by lying down on it.
• To deliberately throw the ball up and catch it again (the ball must touch a hurley or other body part)
• Carrying the ball over the opponent's goal line

Aggressive fouls

Can be deliberate or accidental, often accompanied by a card. They are as follows:

• Pulling down an opponent.
• Using the hurl in an uncontrolled or reckless way.
• Tripping an opponent.
• Using threatening or abusive language to an opposing player, to a teammate, or to an official
• Throwing the hurl in a dangerous manner.
• Attempting to strike any player or official with a hurl, elbow, fist, head, or kick.
• Spitting at an opponent.

Scoring

Main article:Scoring in Gaelic games

Goalposts and scoring system used in hurling

Scoring is achieved by sending thesliotarbetween the opposition's goal posts. The posts, which are at each end of the field, areHposts as inrugby footballbut with a net under the crossbar as in football. The posts are 6.4 m apart and the crossbar is 2.44 m above the ground.

If the ball goes over the crossbar, apointis scored and a white flag is raised by an umpire. If the ball goes below the crossbar, agoal,worth three points, is scored, and a green flag is raised by an umpire. A goal must be scored by either a striking motion or by directly soloing the ball into the net. The goal is guarded by a goalkeeper. Scores are recorded in the format {goal total} – {point total}. For example, the 1996All-Irelandfinal finished:Wexford1–13Limerick0–14. Thus Wexford won by two points (1–13 being worth sixteen points).

In speech, a score consisting of at least one goal and one point is read as simply the two numbers, so Wexford's 1–13 is read "one thirteen"; the words "goals" and "points" invariably omitted. Goals are never "converted" into points; it is incorrect to describe a score of 1–13 as "sixteen". 2–0 would be referred to as "two goals", never "two zero". Likewise, 0–10 would be referred to as "ten points", never "zero ten". 0–0 is said "no score". So the Wexford/Limerick match score would be read as "Wexford one thirteen, Limerick fourteen points".

Tackling

Players may be tackled but not struck by a one-handed slash of the stick; exceptions are two-handed jabs and strikes. Jersey-pulling, wrestling, pushing, and tripping are all forbidden. There are several forms of acceptable tackling, the most popular being:

• the "block", where one player attempts to smother an opposing player's strike by trapping the ball between his hurley and the opponent's swinging hurl
• the "hook", where a player approaches another player from a rear angle and attempts to catch the opponent's hurley with his own at the top of the swing
• the "side pull", where two players running together for thesliotarwill collide at the shoulders and swing together to win the tackle and "pull" (name given to swing the hurley) with extreme force
• The "shoulder barge" where one player attacks the other player's shoulder by shoving him with the shoulder

Restarting play

Player taking a penalty puck from the 20-metre line

• The match begins with the referee throwing thesliotarin between the four midfielders on the halfway line
• After an attacker has scored or put the ball wide of the goals, the goalkeeper may take a "puckout" from the hand at the edge of the small square. All players must be beyond the 20 m line.
• After a defender has put the ball wide of the goals, an attacker may take a "65" from the 65 m line level with where the ball went wide. It must be taken by lifting and striking. However, the ball must not be taken into the hand but struck while the ball is lifted.
• After a player has put the ball over the sideline, the other team may take a 'sideline cut' at the point where the ball left the pitch. It must be taken from the ground.
• After a player has committed a foul, the other team may take a 'free' at the point where the foul was committed. It must be taken by lifting and striking in the same style as the "65".
• After a defender has committed a foul inside the square (large rectangle), the other team may take a "penalty" from the ground from behind the 20 m line. Only the goalkeeper may guard the goals. It must be taken by lifting and striking and thesliotarmust be struck on or behind the 20m line (The penalty rule was amended in 2015 due to safety concerns. Before this the ball merely had to start at the 20m line but could be struck beyond it. To balance this advantage the two additional defenders previously allowed on the line have been removed).
• If many players are struggling for the ball and no side is able to capitalize or gain control of it the referee may choose to throw the ball in between two opposing players. This is also known as a "throw in".

Officials

A hurling match is watched over by eight officials:

• The referee (on field)
• Two linesmen (sideline)
• Sideline official/standby linesman (inter-county games only)
• Four umpires (two at each end)
• Hawkeye Video technology for some scoring situations inCroke Park,Dublin and inSemple Stadiumin Thurles, Co. Tipperary. (inter-county games only)

The referee is responsible for starting and stopping play, recording the score, awarding frees, noting infractions, and issuing yellow (caution) and red (sending off)penalty cardsto players after offences. A second yellow card at the same game leads to a red card, and therefore to a dismissal.

Players are cautioned with a yellow card, and dismissed from the game with a red card

Linesmen are responsible for indicating the direction of line balls to the referee and also for conferring with the referee. The fourth official is responsible for overseeing substitutions, and also indicating the amount of stoppage time (signalled to him by the referee) and the players substituted using an electronic board. The umpires are responsible for judging the scoring. They indicate to the referee whether a shot was: wide (spread both arms), a 65 m puck (raise one arm), a point (wave white flag), or a goal (wave green flag).

Contrary to popular belief within the association, all officials are not obliged to indicate "any misdemeanours" to the referee, but are in fact permitted to inform the referee only of violent conduct they have witnessed which has occurred without the referee's knowledge. A linesman or umpire is not permitted to inform the referee of technical fouls such as a "third time in the hand", where a player catches the ball for a third time in succession after soloing or an illegal pick up of the ball. Such decisions can only be made at the discretion of the referee.

Injury risk

Blunt injury to the larynx is an infrequent consequence of contact sports despite protective equipment and stringent rules. Hurling, one of the two national sporting games of Ireland, is seen as one of the fastest field sports on earth and only played with a facemask and helmet as protection, making injury an unavoidable feature of the game without further padding.The two most common sites of injury in hurling are the fingers and the hamstrings.Hurling is also considered to have "a notable proportion of blunt scrotal trauma."

History

Further information:History of hurling

A hurling stick and ball feature on thisgallowglass' gravestone, circa 15–16th century

Hurling is older than the recorded history of Ireland. It is thought to predate Christianity, having come to Ireland with the Celts.The earliest written references to the sport inBrehon lawdate from the 5th century.Seamus King's bookA History of Hurlingreferences oral history going back as far as 1200BCEof the game being played inTara,County Meath. Hurling is related to the games ofshintythat is played primarily in Scotland,cammagon theIsle of Manandbandowhich was played formerly in England and Wales. The tale of theTáin Bó Cuailnge(drawing on earlier legends) describes the heroCúchulainnplaying hurling atEmain Macha.Similar tales are told aboutFionn Mac Cumhailand theFianna,his legendary warrior band. Recorded references to hurling appear in many places such as the fourteenth centuryStatutes of Kilkennyand a fifteenth-century grave slab surviving inInishowen,County Donegal.

The eighteenth century is frequently referred to as "The Golden Age of Hurling". This was when members of theAnglo-Irishlanded gentry kept teams of players on their estates and challenged each other's teams to matches for the amusement of their tenants.

Hurling scoring in All-Ireland championships 1910 to 2023

Ratio of points to goals in Hurling & Football inter-county championships 1910 to 2023

One of the first modern attempts to standardise the game with a formal, written set of rules came with the foundation of the Irish Hurling Union atTrinity College Dublinin 1879. It aimed "to draw up a code of rules for all clubs in the union and to foster that manly and noble game of hurling in this, its native country".

The founding of theGaelic Athletic Association(GAA) in 1884 in Hayes Hotel, Thurles, County Tipperary, ended decline by organising the game around a common set of written rules. In 1888, Tipperary represented by Thurles Blues beat Meelick of Galway to win the first All-Ireland Championship. However, the twentieth century sawCork,Kilkennyas well asTipperarydominate hurling with each of these counties winning more than 20 All-Ireland titles each.Wexford,Waterford,Clare,Limerick,Offaly,Antrim,Dublin,andGalwaywere also strong hurling counties during the twentieth century.

As hurling entered the new millennium, it has remained Ireland's second most popular sport behindGaelic football.

An extended qualifier system resulted in a longerAll-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.Pay-for-play remains controversial and theGaelic Players Associationcontinues to grow in strength. The inauguration of theChristy Ring CupandNicky Rackard Cupgave new championships and an opportunity to play inCroke Parkto the weaker county teams. Further dissemination of the championship structure was completed in 2009 with the addition of theLory Meagher Cupto make it a four tier championship.

Hurling at the Olympic Games

Hurling was an unofficial sport at the1904 Summer OlympicsinSt. Louis, Missouri,in the United States. In the final, Fenian F.C. (Chicago) USA beat Innisfails (St. Louis). This was the only time hurling was inthe Olympics.

International

Further information:Hurling outside Ireland

Although many hurling clubs exist worldwide, only Ireland has a national team (although it includes only players from weaker counties in order to ensure matches are competitive). It and the Scotlandshintyteam have played for many years with modified match rules (as withInternational Rules Football). The match is the only such international competition. However, competition at club level has been going on around the world since the late nineteenth century thanks to emigration from Ireland, and the strength of the game has ebbed and flowed along with emigration trends. Nowadays, growth in hurling is noted in Continental Europe, Australia, and North America.

Argentina

An early hurling team in Argentina, formed by Irish immigrants, c. 1900

Irish immigrants began arriving inArgentinain the 19th century.The earliest reference to hurling in Argentina dates from the late 1880s inMercedes, Buenos Aires.However, the game was not actively promoted until 1900, when it came to the attention of author and newspapermanWilliam Bulfin.Under Bulfin's patronage, theHurling Clubwas formed on 15 July 1900, leading to teams being established in different neighborhoods of Buenos Aires and the surrounding farming communities.

Games of hurling were played every weekend until 1914 and received frequent coverage from Argentina's Spanish language newspapers, such asLa Nación.After the outbreak ofWorld War I,it became almost impossible to obtain hurleys from Ireland. An attempt was made to use native Argentine mountain ash, but it proved too heavy and lacking in pliability. Although the game was revived after the end of the war, the golden age of Argentine hurling had passed.World War IIfinally brought the era to its close.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, immigration from Ireland slowed to a trickle. In addition, native born Irish-Argentines assimilated into the local community. The last time that hurling was played in Argentina was in 1980, when the Aer Lingus Hurling Club conducted a three-week tour of the country and played matches at several locations.Since 2009, with the realization of several Summers Camps and the visit of the All Stars in December, hurling returned to be a frequent activity at the Hurling Club, where many boys and young men have since been trained and taught to play. The Hurling Club have even been invited to take part in the Hurling Festival within The Gathering events organised byAer Lingus.This team was present in September 2013 in thecity of Galway.The team consists of 21 players from Hockey and Rugby teams. Many have contributed to the return of hurling as an activity in the club. As an example we can name Alejandro Yoyo Wade, Johnny Wade, Barbie, Cecilia and Irene Scally, David Ganly, Dickie Mac Allister, Eduardo Cabrera Punter, Hernan Magrini Scally. Several Irish have participated in many opportunities to work with the skills and education: Jonathan Lynch, Kevin O'Connors and Michael Connery, who currently works with the team's training to participate in the Aer Lingus International Hurling Festival.

Australia

Further information:Australasia GAA

The earliest reference to hurling in Australia is related in the book "Sketches of Garryowen". On 12 July 1844, a match took place at Batman's Hill inMelbourneas a counterpoint to a march by theOrange Order.Reportedly, the hurling match attracted a crowd of five hundred Irish immigrants, while the Orange march shivered out of existence.

Several hurling clubs existed inVictoriain the 1870s including Melbourne, Collingwood, Upper Yarra, Richmond and Geelong.

In 1885, a game between two Sydney-based teams took place before a crowd of over ten thousand spectators. Reportedly, the contest was greatly enjoyed despite the fact that one newspaper dubbed the game "Two Degrees Safer Than War".

Arden Street OvalinNorth Melbournewas used by Irish immigrants during the 1920s. The game in Australasia is administered byAustralasia GAA.

Great Britain

Hurling was brought to Great Britain in the 19th century. The game is administered byBritish GAA.Warwickshire and Lancashire compete at inter-county level in theLory Meagher Cup,competing against other counties in Ireland.Londonis the only non-Irish team to have won theAll-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship(having captured the title in1901), and after winning the2012 Christy Ring Cupgained the right to contest the Liam MacCarthy Cup in 2013.

The first ever hurling game played in the Scottish Highlands was played at Easter 2012 between CLG Micheal Breathnach and Fir Uladh, an Ulster select of Gaeiligoiri, as part of the Iomain Cholmcille festival, na Breathnaich coming out victorious.

Wales has its own club,St. Colmcillesin Cardiff.

South Africa

Soldiers who served in theIrish Brigadeduring theAnglo-Boer Warare believed to have played the game on theveldt.Immigrants fromCounty Wicklowwho had arrived to work in the explosives factory inUmbogintwini,KwaZulu-Natalformed a team c. 1915–16. A major burst of immigration in the 1920s led to the foundation of theTransvaal Hurling AssociationinJohannesburgin 1928. Games were traditionally played in a pitch on the site of the modern day Johannesburg Central Railway Station everyEaster SundayafterMass.

In 1932, a South African hurling team sailed to Ireland to compete in theTailteann Games,where they carried a banner donated by a convent of Irish nuns inCape Town.On their arrival, they were personally received by theTaoiseach(Prime Minister) at the time,Éamon de Valera.

South African hurling continued to prosper until the outbreak of theSecond World War,which caused immigration from Ireland to cease and made it impossible to import equipment. Games of hurling andGaelic footballwere occasionally sponsored by theChristian Brothers schoolsinBoksburgandPretoriawell into the 1950s. Both games have all but ceased to be played.

North America

Further information:Canadian GAA,New York GAA,andNorth American GAA

U.S. presidentBarack Obamaaccepting ahurleyfromTaoiseachEnda Kenny

References to hurling on the North American continent date from the 1780s in modern-day Canada concerning immigrants fromCounty WaterfordandCounty Kilkenny,and also, in New York City. After the end of theAmerican Revolution,references to hurling cease in American newspapers until the aftermath of theGreat Faminewhen Irish people moved to America in huge numbers, bringing the game with them.Newspaper reports from the 1850s refer to occasional matches played in San Francisco,Hobokenand New York City. The first game of hurling played under GAA rules outside Ireland was played onBoston Commonin June 1886.

In 1888, there was an American tour by fifty Gaelic athletes from Ireland, known as the 'American Invasion'. This created enough interest amongIrish Americansto lay the groundwork for theNorth American GAA.By the end of 1889, almost a dozen GAA clubs existed in America, many of them in and around New York City,Philadelphiaand Chicago. Later, clubs were formed in Boston,Cleveland,and many other centers of Irish America.Concord, New Hampshirehas its state's only hurling team, New Hampshire Wolves, sponsored by Litherman's Limited Craft Brewery.

In 1910, twenty-two hurlers, composed of an equal number from Chicago and New York, conducted a tour of Ireland, where they played against the County teams fromKilkenny,Tipperary,Limerick,DublinandWexford.Traditionally, hurling was a game played by Irish immigrants and discarded by their children. Many American hurling teams took to raising money to import players directly from Ireland. In recent years, this has changed considerably with the advent of the Internet and increased travel. TheBarley House Wolveshurling team from New Hampshire was formed when U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq saw a hurling game on the television inShannon Airportas their plane refuelled.Outside of the traditional North American GAA cities of New York, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco, clubs are springing up in other places where they consist of predominantly American-born players who bring a new dimension to the game and actively seek to promote it as a mainstream sport, especially Joe Maher, a leading expert at the sport inBoston.TheMilwaukee Hurling Club,with 300 members, is the largest Hurling club in the world outside Ireland,and is made of all Americans and very few Irish immigrants. The St. Louis Gaelic Athletic Club was established in 2002 and has expanded its organization to an eight team hurling league in the spring and six teamGaelic footballleague in the fall. They also have a 30-member camogie league. Saint Louis has won two National Championships in Jr C Hurling (2004 and 2011), as well as two National Championships in Jr D Gaelic Football (2005, and 2013). The Indianapolis Hurling Club began in 2002, then reformed in 2005. In 2008, the Indy Hurling Club won the Junior C National Championship. In 2011, Indy had 7 club teams and sent a Junior B, Junior C and Camogie team to nationals. Hurling continues to grow in popularity with teams now inKnoxville, TN,Charleston, SC,Orlando, FL,Tampa, FL,Augusta, GA,Greenville, SC,Indianapolis, IN,Worcester, MA,Corvallis, OR,Akron, OH,Raleigh, NC,Concord, NH,Portland, Maine,Providence, RI,Twin Cities, MN,Madison, WI,Milwaukee, WI,Washington, DC,Hampton Roads, VA,Rochester NY,Nashville, TN,Richmond, VA,Hartford, CT,Missoula, MT,Butte, MTandSeattle, WA.

The GAA have also begun to invest in American college students with university teams springing up atUniversity of Connecticut,Stanford University,UC Berkeley,Purdue University,Indiana University,University of Montanaand other schools. On 31 January 2009, the first ever US collegiate hurling match was held between UC Berkeley and Stanford University, organized by the newly formed California Collegiate Gaelic Athletic Association. UC Berkeley won the challenge match by one point, while Stanford won the next two CCGAA matches to win the first collegiate cup competition in the U.S.On Memorial Day Weekend of 2011, the first ever National Collegiate GAA championship was played. The Indiana University Hurling Club won all matches of the tournament, and won by four points in the championship final to be crowned the first everU.S. National Collegiate Champions.

Major hurling competitions

Further information:List of Gaelic games competitions

Kilkennyis the only "Hurling-only "county; the 14 light coloured counties areFootball-only; the remaining 17 compete in both (see image description for details).

• All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
  • Connacht Senior Hurling Championship
  • Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
  • Munster Senior Hurling Championship
  • Ulster Senior Hurling Championship
• National Hurling League
• Christy Ring Cup
• Nicky Rackard Cup
• All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship
  • Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship
• All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship
  • Leinster Under-21 Hurling Championship
• All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship
• Poc Fada
• Féile na nGael
• Composite rules shinty–hurling(usually internationals between Scotland and Ireland)

Popular culture

Main article:Hurling in popular culture

See also

• Camogie
• Field hockey
• Bando (sport)
• Shinty
• Women's shinty
• Lacrosse
• Cammag

Further reading

• King, Seamus J. (2005).A History of Hurling(Second ed.). Dublin: Gill & Macmillan.ISBN978-0-7171-3938-5.OCLC61477832.
• King, Seamus J. (1998).The Clash of the Ash in Foreign Fields: Hurling Abroad.Boherclough, Cashel, Co. Tipperary: S. J. King.ISBN978-0-9533513-0-5.OCLC40820752.

External links

• Hurlingat the GAA website