History of hurling
[2] The tale of the Táin Bó Cuailgne (drawing on earlier legends) describes the hero Cúchulainn playing hurling at Emain Macha.
The Seanchás Mór commentaries on the Brehon Law state that the son of a rí (local king) could have his hurley hooped in bronze, while others could only use copper.
The Statutes of Kilkenny forbade hurling due to excessive violence, stating further that the Old English settlers of the Pale would be better served to practice archery and fencing in order to repel the attacks of the Irish clans.
[4] A 15th-century grave slab survives in Inishowen, County Donegal, dedicated to the memory of a Scottish gallowglass warrior named Manas Mac Mhoiresdean of Iona.
"[6] 1587: Lord Chancellor William Gerrarde complains that English settlers of the Munster Plantation are speaking Irish and playing hurling.
[citation needed] In an article of 1835, the English essayist and poet Leigh Hunt referred to hurling being played in London in the early 1600s ('before the Commonwealth').
Teams of 10, 12 or 20 players would hit or carry a ball of animal hair with curved sticks, the aim being to pass it through a hoop in the opponents' area.
The memoirs of Sydney, Lady Morgan, Volume 1, page 41, state:[10] In the early 18th century the hurling matches in the provinces were the Olympic games of ould Ireland; the athletes of Connaught would challenge the rival hurlers of Munster.
The first ladies of the neighbourhood frequently presided as umpires; whilst the combatants, whose chief claims were their personal prowess, enlisted in their ranks young men of the first families, as well as the prime youth and manhood of the "mere Irishry".
Early in the last century, a celebrated hurling match took place in Connaught, sustained by the gentry, farmers and squirearchy of the neighbouring counties of Sligo and Roscommon.
It was the custom to award to the victor of the field a ribbon to wear at his breast, or some other simple mark of distinction, presented by the Queen of Beauty of the day.
On this occasion, the Queen of Beauty was Sydney, the orphan grand-daughter of Sir Malby Crofton; the victor of the day was Walter MacOwen, Anglice Owenson, a gentleman according to the genealogy of Connaught, but a farmer by actual position.
He was very handsome in person and tall in stature, and of noted prowess in all contests like the present.As previously described, the game ended with one goal, so could last a few minutes or several hours.
[8] Political and social changes including the Act of Union 1801 and Great Famine produced a decline in sporting activity and a rift between the landowners and the people so that the game was no longer supported by the gentry.
