Irish sports

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a work by
MARTIN BJÖRKVALL, JOHAN HAMMARLUND,
NIKLAS BOKLUND, DANIJEL PILIPOVIC
English, NT1A, 010119
Tutor: Björn Bäckström
Table Of Content

Introduction 3
Hurling 4
Camogie 7
Handball 9
Gaelic Football 11
Analysis 13
Sources 14
Introduction
We have worked with some different, typical Irish sports. Hurling, camogie, handball and Gaelic football.
Hurling is Irelands national sport and is only played by men. Camogie, on the other hand, is only played by women, but it is almost the same thing as hurling.
Irish handball is played against walls. The server serves by shooting the ball at a wall, the ball comes back and the next player/team shall hit it, so it goes back and hits the wall and so on.
Gaelic football is a kind of a mix between rugby, football and soccer. The players may kick, hit the ball with their hands and even hit the other players. Quite a fun game then!

Our head questions:
What Irish sports are there?
Which sports are the most popular?
How many of these sports are played abroad?
Is there any differences between the sports?
Is there any similarities betweeen the sports?
Hurling has been around for milleniums. In the beginning it wasn`t like the hurling played today. The official form of the game wasn´t determined until the 18th century.

The first records of the game and its "rules" can be read about in the Brehon laws. The first descriptions of hurling dates back to the 8th century. Hurling was described as a form of war or a way to set things right. You would use a broad stick and a ball and people would even die during the games, due to powerful blows to the head.
Hurleys were also used by the Celts in combat and for self defence.

Some people say that hurling was developed in the Leinster province and then spread throughout the whole country. Several things kept the development of the game down like the English crown and the famine in the 19th century. But the Irish didn´t give up that easily.

With the intention of strengthening the nation´s self-esteem and make their own heritage blossom, a man called Michael Cusack teamed up with Pat Nally from the Irish Republican Brotherhood (now IRA). IRB was a political movement, fighting for Irish independence. They wanted to create an Irish Athlete Committee.

In the beginning of the 1880s Michael Cusack founded the Dublin Athletic Club, and two years later he founded the Dublin Hurling Club. This club was, due to expansion, renamed after a while to the Metropolitan Hurling Club. On November 1st 1884 the Gaelic Athletes Association (GAA) was founded, after many unsuccessfull attempts. Like any other organisation the GAA had been struggling with the image the press presented the sport in, social opinions and disagreements on how the GAA should be organised.

This were the beginning of an organisation which have had a great influence upon the Irish people and their lives, someone said "This sport is more than a sport, it is a part of the fabric of the nation, and an essential expression of our identification". The GAA is now considered the most powerful organisation in Ireland after the church.







THE TEAM
In hurling, each team consists of 15 players and a number of substitutes. Up to three substitutes can be used during one match.

The teams are lined up like this:
a hurler (hurling-player)
1 goalkeeper
6 defenders
2 mid fielders
6 forwards

The players has a hurley, which is made of ash wood and about 90 cm, to strike or carry the ball, called sliothar, with. The sliothar is very hard because it´s made mainly of cork, with a leather coating. The circumference is between 23 and 25 cm and the sliothar´s weight is between 100 and 130 g.
The field is 130-140 meters long and 80-90 meters wide (see image 1).

THE GAME
A match consists of two 30 minute halves in league matches and two 35 minute halves in championship matches.
The field is 130 to 145 meters long and 80 to 90 meters wide with goal posts at either end (image 1). The goals are shaped like an"H". A point is scored if the ball goes between the bars and over the crossbar. A goal, which isn´t the same as a point, are scored if the ball passes between the goal posts under the crossbar. The sliothar can image 1
be carried in the hand up to four steps, or during the entire match if placed on the end of the hurley :-).

The sliothar can be passed either by kicking, hitting it with the hurley or by passing it with the hand (but then you have to strike it with you hand open). The sliothar can be struck with the hurley while it´s in the air or on the ground.
If the sliothar goes out over the sideline the referee will reward a sideline puck. There is no off-side rule in hurling, if it goes over the end line first hitting one of the defending players, a 65 meter free puck is awarded, an attacking player will then take a free puck 65 meters from the goal. A big stick (the hurley), a small ball, a very large field and some wicked goalies call for skills.

Hurling is probably the fastest land sport in the world, and probably one of the most dangerous too.

THE REFEREES
There is one referee who´s in charge and follows the game from the pitch, two linesmen watches the game at the sidelines and four umpires are each placed at one of the four goal posts.

If a player gets booked twice by the referee for fouls, he (the player) is sent off the pitch for the rest of the match. You can be booked for several things, e.g.:

* Hitting or kicking players or referees
* Stamping players, a referee seldom gets stamped on
* Playing or behaving in a hazardous manner.

There`s also something called a technical foul, players will not be booked for fouls like these, though there will be some kind of penalty. This happens if you´re e.g.:

* Breaking the four step rule
* Throwing the ball
* Hiding the ball
* Dropping the hurley intentionally
* Being in the opponents’ keeper square when the sliothar is not played into it

THE TOURNAMENTS
There are several tournaments but the biggest tournaments are ”The National League” and ”The All Ireland championship”.




WHAT IS CAMOGIE?
Camogie is the women version of the very fast sport Hurling. The biggest difference is that there are less body contact and a smaller pitch.
Each team has 15 members ”armed” with ”hurleys”.
The team contains six forwards, six defenders, two mid fielders and a goalkeeper. Only three substitutes are permitted in each 60-minute game.

THE HISTORY OF CAMOGIE
The game of Camogie dates back to 1904, when the Cumann CamÛgaÌochta na nGael (Camogie Association) was founded to give women and girls the opportunity to play Gaelic games.

The enthusiasm for traditional Irish sports had taken hold late in the 19th century. While traditional games only were played by men Camogie became the first classic sport for women. Now women had their chance to show that they could play too.

The first public Camogie match was held in 1904. In 1912 the first inter-county game was played. But in 1918 the British army arrested players because their game had been branded ”illegal assemblies”.

Nowadays the sport is learned by young girls in school, carried on to University teams, and enjoyed by clubs throughout Ireland. Each year brings a competition leading up to the All-Ireland Championship on the first Sunday of September. In the beginning of May of each year, a bracket is set for county teams to compete for their provincial titles. Each of the four provincial winners plays in the semi-finals, and the winners advance to the pitch at Croke Park, where they compete for the O´Duffy Cup, which dates back to 1932.

THE HURLEY
The hurleys are made of ash wood, they are between 76 and 94 cm long, and with the broad part, called bas, you hit the sliothar.


HOW TO PLAY
The ball in Camogie is known as a sliothar.
The sliothar is in play once the referee has given the signal for the game to start or restart. The sliothar will remain in play until the referee signals the game to stop, the sliothar has passed over any of the boundary lines or when the sliothar is touched in play by anyone other than a player.

The sliothar can be struck with the hurley when it is on the ground, while in the air or when lifted from the hurley. Players may run with the sliothar balanced or hopping on the bas of the hurley. Players can catch the sliothar, play it on their hurley and bring it back to their hands only once. A player can strike the sliothar with the hurley, hand (but not throw it), by kicking and by hitting it from the ground.
The main object of Camogie is, of course, to score a goal and that can be done in two ways. If you shoot above the crossbar you get one point. But if you manage to make a ”real” goal under the crossbar then you get three points.

*
The line out

1. Goalkeeper 2. Right-full-back 3. Full-back
4. Left-full-back 5. Right-half-back 6. Center-back
7. Left-half-back 8. Right-center-field 9. Left-center-field
10. Right-half-forward 11. Centre-forward 12. Left-half-forward
13. Right-full-forward 14. Full-forward 15. Left-full-forward
HISTORY
The ancient of handball in Ireland is Irish Liathroid laime. It´s been a popular game in Ireland since pre-Christmas time. It´s known that handball comes from that time because of Ancient manuscripts found, indicating this. Handball is also similar to a game played by the Egyptians. It´s believed that their game started 1500 year BC.

The regular people who lived in Ireland played handball against houses and the ruins of castles and churches. Organised games were never the most important thing in the early years of handball. The first pro tournament began as early as in 1850. A man called Martin Butler started this. He travelled around in Ireland to play for wages from the local champions. And when he lost, he payed the local champions.

Irish emigrants took the handball to the United States and Canada, where it became a popular sport. In the beginning, handball was played out in the open air, but is now a indoor game in Ireland.
In Dublin there is a very big glass court was handball is played. It was built in 1970, and the World Championship are staged there. Irish migrants also brought the game to England, but the Englishmen already played tennis. Despite this, the Englishmen began to play Irish handball instead of Tennis, after a few years.

VARIANT
Irish handball can be played as singles (two people against one another) or as a double (two against two). It´s played in a court with one, three or four walls.

One-wall handball comes from New York, and is usually played outdoors. Originally the Irish played with the hardball in open courts. The hardball is about two inches in diameter, weights about 42.5 g, has a rubber centre and is bound with leather. Later the softball was introduced to the Irishs. The softball is 6 cm in diameter and is made out of rubber. It´s weight is 62 grams.
playing one-wall handball
Three-wall handball is almost the same as one-wall. The difference is that one-wall handball does not have a back wall.

Four-wall handball is the most popular form. The court is 6 meters high, 6 meters wide and 12 meters long. The back wall has to be at least 3.7 meters high. This variant has the same rules as three-wall handball.

HOW TO PLAY IRISH HANDBALL
The game begins when the server is standing in the serve box and hits the ball on the first bounce. If the ball doesn´t hit the first wall first, it´s not allowed to hit any other wall or the floor.
When the ball hits the wall, it must bounce over the half court. If the ball stops in front of the short line, the server has to serve again. If he fails twice, the serve goes over to the other team.

When playing handball, you have to return the ball to
the front wall before it bounces the floor two times.
Players are not allowed to stand in front of other
players, preventing them from hitting the ball.
If the opponent missed to return a ball, the server
scores 1 point and serves again. The first team
to get 21 points is victorious. A game is
often a match consistent best of two out of
three games.

Irish handball is pretty much the same as squash.



the handball champion year 2000







THE GAME
Gaelic football originated in Ireland in the 16th century and remains popular there even today.
The game is played under the authority of the Gaelic Athletic Association.
Gaelic football is played by women or men in teams and is played on a grass pitch. The size may be 130 meters by 80 meters, but it can vary. Each team has 15 players.
The team consists of a goalkeeper, 6 defenders, 2 centre fielders and 6 forwards. The ball which is used is like an ordinary soccer ball.

A FEW RULES
You are allowed to hit other players as hard as you like to, anywhere between hips and shoulders with your open palm.
The players may kick, punch or hand pass the ball (hold it with one hand and punch it with other hand). It is allowed to catch the ball, but you can only take 4 steps before you must play it.
The goals are shaped as rugby goals, that is, like an H. A player scores one point if the ball passes between the posts and over the crossbar. A goal which is worth three points can only be made if the player gets the ball under the crossbar. The goalkeeper is the only one on the field who is allowed to pitch the ball up directly from the ground. A player may not pick up the ball directly from the ground but may flick it or chip it up with the foot. The ball may not be thrown.
Gaelic football is a fast game and it plays over 80 minutes with 2 halves of 35 minutes with 10 minute interval.

ABOUT THE COMPETITIONS
The premier competitions are between counties. A county team is selected from the best club players of the county. The All-Ireland Championship is the major competition and it is played during the summer months with the final on the third Sunday in September. The final is played at the Croke Park in Dublin. The National League is played from October to April. There´s also a inter-provincial competition. The club teams play their own championships within counties.

GAA organises and promotes traditional Irish games and pastimes. GAA is called ”Cumann Luthchleas Gael”, in Irish. The GAA actively supports Irish culture and language. The main games organised by the GAA are Gaelic football, hurling, handball and rounders, also for all age groups.
Analysis/conclusion
We voted when we were going to choose a topic, because we could quite agree. It ended up with sports. The work went on pretty well and was finished with good margins.
It was pretty easy to find the facts and the subject was interesting too!
Here are the answers to our head questions:

What Irish sports is there?
The sports that we choose were hurling, camogie, handball and Gaelic football. Of course there is many more, but these are just the most common ones.

Which sports are the most popular?
We think that hurling is the most popular sport, after that, we´ve got camogie. We also believe that gaelic football is a bit more popular than handball.

How many of t...