The ancient Irish Game of Hurling, fast, dangerous, exciting, legendary game of kings

Today we’re going to look at the Irish national sport of Hurllng. I just happened to be passing a training session of some young players at Dublin’s Technical University (TUD), but I’ve interspersed this video with some classic shots of the great game in action to give viewers an overview if you’ve never seen the sport before. A lot of work goes into these videos. You can now buy me a pint as a means of appreciation for my work on Naked Ireland, no obligation, obviously - only if you can afford it... I appreciate it. Cheers. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/NakedIre... For those watching from outside Ireland, the sport is played with a Hurley or a Hurl, a stick traditionally fashioned out of ash. This gives rise to the romantic phrase ‘The clash of the ash” as violent contact is made with the opponent. These hurlers will play for their parish teams and maybe even some are already playing for their counties, but what these young players really have ambitions to do is to play for their county in an all-Ireland final. The ball is known as a Sliothar, made of leather over cork. For those watching this in the US, it resembles a baseball. It’s a fairly violent sport I think it’s safe to say, with helmets becoming compulsory at all levels of the sport since 2010. The object obviously is to get the ball in the goal (for 3 points) or over the crossbar for a point. It’s an ancient sport which has its roots in Celtic mythology, it is older than the recorded history of Ireland an predates Christianity. Accounts in Irish Mythology include the hero Cúchulainn playing the game. You certainly need a heart like a lion to play this sport at the top level. The ball can’t be picked up with the hand. So you see the player taking a puck and lifting the ball into the air with the toe of his hurley before scoring. The game is played with 15 players a side and on a pitch corresponding with the dimensions and goal sizes of Gaelic football. Senior inter-county matches last 70 mins (35 mins a half). Other matches are 60 mins and 50 mins for under 13s. The administering body of the game is the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) You also can’t run with the ball in your hand for more than 4 steps. This necessitates the player bouncing the ball on the hurl or running with the ball on the stick when in possession. This is a quick introduction to the game for those of you outside Ireland who haven’t encountered it, we’re scratching the surface here, but I hope this has been interesting. If so, give the video a like, share with your friends and don’t forget to subscribe and I’ll see you in the next video