hurling

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hurling has a long history in Ireland. Brehon law is thought to have recognized the sport, and 12th‐century manuscripts mention comparable ball and stick games. The Statute of Kilkenny legislated against English colonists playing the game. Nevertheless the sport persisted, and is mentioned in a law of 1527 and in the Sunday Observance Act of 1695. During the 18th century hurling remained popular. In 1755 the lord lieutenant attended an intercounty match. By the early 19th century, however, social and sectarian tension and changing gentry lifestyles had eroded upper‐class patronage, while popular participation declined as part of the general contraction of traditional amusements (see sport), especially following the Famine. The game was still played only in isolated pockets when, in 1870, the first laws of hurling were drawn up by the Dublin University Hurley Club. The Irish Hurley Union was founded by six Dublin clubs in 1879, and contact was made with hockey clubs in England. The establishment of the Gaelic Athletic Association offered an alternative for would‐be hurlers. The Hurley Union, seen as elitist and pro‐Union, dissolved prior to 1892. Under the auspices of the GAA, all‐Ireland championships were instituted in 1887. By 1913 the rules of the game had been rewritten, reducing teams to fifteen a side, and restructuring the scoring system. The sport spread rapidly from Dublin, becoming most popular in Munster. In Northern Ireland, where hurling has continued to be perceived as a nationalist and Catholic sport, clubs came to enjoy significant success only after 1960.

Neal Garnham

hurling outdoor ball and stick game similar to field hockey (see hockey, field ). The national pastime of Ireland, it was played for many centuries before the Gaelic Athletic Association standardized the rules in 1884. In the United States, hurling was played by early Irish immigrants, and it is still played by some Irish-Americans, especially in areas of recent immigration. An extremely rugged game, hurling is played on a field 80 by 140 yd (73.15 by 128.02 m) by two opposing teams of 15 players each. The ball, made of rubber, is 9 to 10 in. (22.86 to 25.4 cm) in circumference, cork-centered, and covered with horsehide. After it is picked off the ground or caught in the hurley—a tapering, curved, broad-bladed wooden stick 3 ft long—the player runs with the ball as far as he can and then hurls it toward a teammate or toward the goal his team is attacking. Only the hurley may be used in advancing the ball. The goalposts are 16 ft (4.88 m) high and 21 ft (6.4 m) wide, with a crossbar 8 ft (2.44 m) above the ground. Three points are scored by driving the ball into the net under the crossbar, one point by hitting it over the crossbar.

hurling (hurley) One of the national sports of Ireland. It is played by two teams of 15 on a field 137 × 82m (450 × 270ft), at each end of which are goalposts. The object is to score points by propelling the ball between the goal uprights, either above (1 point) or below (3 points) the crossbar. Every player carries a hurley (hooked stick), on which the ball may be balanced as the player runs, or with which it may be batted upfield towards a team-mate; the ball also may be kicked.