99-939: The Westmeath Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as Slevin Coaches Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Westmeath SHC ) is an annual hurling competition organized by the Westmeath County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association and contested by the top-ranking senior clubs in the county of Westmeath in Ireland . It is the most prestigious competition in Westmeath hurling. The competition has been won by 19 teams, 14 of which have won it more than once. Clonkill
198-642: A straight knockout basis for the majority of its existence, whereby a team's first loss eliminated them from the championship. In more recent years, the qualification procedures for the championship have changed several times. Currently, qualification is limited to teams competing in 3 feeder competitions; three teams from the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship , three teams from the Munster Senior Hurling Championship and two teams who qualify to
297-409: 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. 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
396-491: 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 the Gaelic 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,
495-535: A double-header. From 2008 until 2017 the quarter-finals were played at Semple Stadium in Thurles . The All-Ireland semi-finals have been played exclusively at Croke Park since 1977. Croke Park had been regularly used as a semi-final venue prior to this, however, a number of other stadiums around the country were also used. St Brendan's Park and St Cronan's Park were regularly used for semi-finals involving Kilkenny and Galway. Other regular semi-final venues included
594-527: A feature of the schedules. Early broadcasts consisted of team announcements and short reports on events of interest. 2RN recorded a broadcasting first on 29 August 1926, when former hurler and journalist P.D. Mehigan carried a live commentary of the All-Ireland semi-final between Kilkenny and Galway. It was the first live radio broadcast of a field game outside of the United States . Although there
693-420: 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
792-423: 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. 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
891-631: A knock-out basis. The winners of the provincial finals participated in the All-Ireland semi-finals. Over time the Leinster and Munster teams grew to become the superpowers of the game, as Gaelic football was the more dominant sport in Ulster and Connacht. After some time Galway became the only credible team in Connacht and was essentially given an automatic pass to the All-Ireland semi-final every year. This knock-out system persisted for over 100 years and
990-613: A longer All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship . Pay-for-play remains controversial and the Gaelic Players Association continues to grow in strength. The inauguration of the Christy Ring Cup and Nicky Rackard Cup gave new championships and an opportunity to play in Croke Park to the weaker county teams. Further dissemination of the championship structure was completed in 2009 with the addition of
1089-484: A mainstream sport, especially Joe Maher, a leading expert at the sport in Boston . The Milwaukee 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 team Gaelic football league in
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#17328017872831188-467: A number of features with Gaelic football , such as the field and goals, the number of players and much terminology . The same game played by women is called camogie ( camógaíocht ), which shares a common Gaelic root. The objective of the game is for players to use an ash wood stick called a hurley (in Irish a camán , pronounced / ˈ k æ m ən / or / k ə ˈ m ɔː n / ) to hit
1287-417: 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
1386-414: 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
1485-478: A small ball called a sliotar / ˈ ʃ l ɪ t ər / between the opponent's goalposts either over the crossbar for one point or under the crossbar into a net guarded by a goalkeeper for three points. The sliotar can 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
1584-502: A temporary replacement while the injured player is tended to. 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
1683-579: A tour of Ireland, where they played against the County teams from Kilkenny , Tipperary , Limerick , Dublin and Wexford .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. The Barley House Wolves hurling team from New Hampshire
1782-620: Is relegated to Group B, the team finishing lowest in Group B is relegated to the Westmeath Intermediate Hurling Championship for the following season. The 6 teams competing in the 2025 Westmeath Senior Hurling Championship are: Hurling Hurling ( Irish : iománaíocht , iomáint ) is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women (camogie for women). One of Ireland's native Gaelic games , it shares
1881-636: Is a fixture of life in many parts of Ireland. Hurling has some popularity among members of the Irish diaspora in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Dubai and Argentina. It has featured regularly in art forms such as film, music and literature . The final of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was listed in second place by CNN in its "10 sporting events you have to see live", after
1980-405: Is assisted by a team of two or three selectors and an extensive backroom team consisting of various coaches. Prior to the development of the concept of a manager in the 1970s, teams were usually managed by a team of selectors with one member acting as chairman. At the end of the All-Ireland final, the winning team is presented with a trophy. The Liam MacCarthy Cup is held by the winning team until
2079-513: 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
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#17328017872832178-569: Is frequently referred to as "The Golden Age of Hurling". This was when members of the Anglo-Irish landed gentry kept teams of players on their estates and challenged each other's teams to matches for the amusement of their tenants. 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 at Trinity College Dublin in 1879. It aimed "to draw up
2277-706: Is noted in Continental Europe, Australia, and North America. Irish immigrants began arriving in Argentina in the 19th century. The earliest reference to hurling in Argentina dates from the late 1880s in Mercedes, Buenos Aires . However, the game was not actively promoted until 1900, when it came to the attention of author and newspaperman William Bulfin . Under Bulfin's patronage, the Hurling Club
2376-467: Is said "no score". So the Wexford/Limerick match score would be read as "Wexford one thirteen, Limerick fourteen points". 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: A hurling match
2475-411: 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 1996 All-Ireland final finished: Wexford 1–13 Limerick 0–14. Thus Wexford won by two points (1–13 being worth sixteen points). In speech,
2574-582: Is the most successful team in the championship's history, having won it 17 times. Raharney are the reigning champions, defeating Lough Lenes Gaels by 2–19 to 2–17 in the 2023 Westmeath SHC final. Senior hurling in Westmeath is divided into two separate groups: the Westmeath Senior Hurling Championship (Group A), and the Westmeath Senior B Hurling Championship (Group B). The team finishing lowest in Group A
2673-546: Is the only non-Irish team to have won the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (having captured the title in 1901 ), and after winning the 2012 Christy Ring Cup gained 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
2772-409: Is watched over by eight officials: 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 cards to players after offences. A second yellow card at the same game leads to a red card, and therefore to a dismissal. Linesmen are responsible for indicating the direction of line balls to
2871-651: The Táin Bó Cuailnge (drawing on earlier legends) describes the hero Cúchulainn playing hurling at Emain Macha . Similar tales are told about Fionn Mac Cumhail and the Fianna , his legendary warrior band. Recorded references to hurling appear in many places such as the fourteenth century Statutes of Kilkenny and a fifteenth-century grave slab surviving in Inishowen , County Donegal . The eighteenth century
2970-498: The United Irishman newspaper. In 1886, county committees began to be established, with several counties affiliating over the next few years. The GAA ran its inaugural All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship in 1887 . The decision to establish that first championship was influenced by several factors. Firstly, inter-club contests in 1885 and 1886 were wildly popular and began to draw huge crowds. Clubs started to travel across
3069-646: The 2020 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final that hurling was "the best sport ever and if the Irish had colonised the world, nobody would ever have heard of football ". UNESCO lists hurling as an element of intangible cultural heritage . A hurling pitch is similar in some respects to a rugby pitch but larger. The grass pitch is rectangular, stretching 130–145 metres (140–160 yards) long and 80–90 m (90–100 yd) wide. There are H -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
Westmeath Senior Hurling Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
3168-473: The 2024 final . This was Clare's fifth All Ireland hurling title, and their first since 2013. The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final was listed in second place by CNN in its "10 sporting events you have to see live", after the Olympic Games . Following the foundation of the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1884, new rules for Gaelic football and hurling were drawn up and published in
3267-554: The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest-tier competition for inter-county hurling in Ireland and has been contested in every year except one since 1887 . The final, formerly held in September, then August and now moved to July , is the culmination of a series of games played during July and August, with the winning team receiving the Liam MacCarthy Cup . The All-Ireland Championship has been played on
3366-524: The Leinster Senior Hurling Championship , five teams in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship and six teams in the Joe McDonagh Cup . Stadium attendances are a significant source of regular income for the GAA and for the teams involved. For the 2017 championship , the average attendances for the five games was 56,565 with a total aggregate attendance figure of 282,826. The 2017 figure represented
3465-715: The Lory Meagher Cup to make it a four tier championship. Hurling was an unofficial sport at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. 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 in the Olympics . 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
3564-603: The Markets Field , Páirc Uí Chaoimh , St Ciarán's Park , the Cork Athletic Grounds and Cusack Park . Since introduction of the back door in 1997 less All Ireland hurling semi-finals involved Galway. Ulster team never reached the semi-final stage if the pre 1997 system had stayed Ulster hurling champions would possibly be still playing in the All Ireland semi-finals. Since 1910, Croke Park has been
3663-636: The Olympic Games and ahead of both the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship . After covering the 1959 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final between Kilkenny and Waterford for BBC Television , English football commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme was moved to describe hurling as his second favourite sport in the world. Alex Ferguson used footage of an All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final in an attempt to motivate his players during his time as manager of Premier League football club Manchester United . The players winced at
3762-717: The Taoiseach (Prime Minister) at the time, Éamon de Valera . South African hurling continued to prosper until the outbreak of the Second World War , which caused immigration from Ireland to cease and made it impossible to import equipment. Games of hurling and Gaelic football were occasionally sponsored by the Christian Brothers schools in Boksburg and Pretoria well into the 1950s. Both games have all but ceased to be played. References to hurling on
3861-421: The sliotar between the opposition's goal posts. The posts, which are at each end of the field, are H posts as in rugby football but 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, a point is scored and a white flag is raised by an umpire. If the ball goes below the crossbar, a goal , worth three points,
3960-409: The 'back-door system' was introduced. This new structure allowed the defeated Munster and Leinster finalists another chance to regain a place in the All-Ireland semi-finals. Tipperary and Kilkenny were the first two teams to benefit from the new system when they defeated Down and Galway respectively in the quarter-finals. The All-Ireland final in the first year of this new experiment was a replay of
4059-601: The 1850s refer to occasional matches played in San Francisco, Hoboken and New York City. The first game of hurling played under GAA rules outside Ireland was played on Boston Common in June 1886. In 1888, there was an American tour by fifty Gaelic athletes from Ireland, known as the 'American Invasion'. This created enough interest among Irish Americans to lay the groundwork for the North American GAA . By
Westmeath Senior Hurling Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
4158-499: The 1890s. In 1922 he presented the GAA with £500 to commission a cup for the All-Ireland champions. The cup, which was constructed to look like a medieval Irish drinking vessel called a mather, was made by jeweller Edmund Johnson at his premises on Dublin's Grafton Street . It replaced the Great Southern Cup as the All-Ireland trophy and was first presented to Bob McConkey of Limerick in 1923. Declan Carr of Tipperary
4257-731: The 1920s led to the foundation of the Transvaal Hurling Association in Johannesburg in 1928. Games were traditionally played in a pitch on the site of the modern day Johannesburg Central Railway Station every Easter Sunday after Mass . In 1932, a South African hurling team sailed to Ireland to compete in the Tailteann Games , where they carried a banner donated by a convent of Irish nuns in Cape Town . On their arrival, they were personally received by
4356-492: The 1970s. They were settled at 70 minutes after five seasons of this in 1975. This applied only to the provincial finals, All-Ireland semi-finals and finals. In the mid-1990s the Gaelic Athletic Association looked at developing a new system whereby a defeat in the championship for certain teams would not mean an immediate exit from the Championship. In the 1997 championship the first major change in format arrived when
4455-552: The All-Ireland SHC final is held on the third Sunday in August. Group stage (15 matches): Each team plays each other once. The 1st and 2nd placed teams advance to the Leinster final and the 3rd placed team advances to the all-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals. All other teams are eliminated from the championship and the bottom placed team may face relegation to next years Joe McDonagh Cup. Final (1 match): The top 2 teams in
4554-521: The All-Ireland final was held in a variety of locations around the country, including Jones's Road as Croke Park was known before its dedication to Thomas Croke . The inaugural final in 1887 was played at Birr , before Dublin venues Clonturk Park , the Pond Field and the Phoenix Park were used in the early 1890s. Fraher Field hosted the final on three occasions, while the final was played at
4653-654: The All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals from the second-tier Joe McDonagh Cup . Annual promotion and relegation allows teams outside these competitions (teams from the Christy Ring Cup - tier 3, the Nicky Rackard Cup - tier 4 and the Lory Meagher Cup - tier 5) to eventually reach the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Seventeen teams currently participate in the All-Ireland Championship, with
4752-421: The All-Ireland semi-finals, and the losers of the provincial finals advanced to two quarter-finals. A series of knockout qualifiers for the remaining teams decided which other two teams would reach the quarter-finals. The updated qualifier structure provided more games and gave renewed hope to the "weaker" teams, as a defeat in the first round no longer meant the end of a county's All-Ireland ambitions. Since 2018,
4851-435: The All-Ireland series in that year. Teams from tiers 3 to 5 may reach tiers 1 and 2 through promotion. 5 counties – 0 or 1 relegations 6 counties – 0 or 1 relegations 6 counties – 1 promotion, 1 relegation 6 counties – 1 promotion, 1 relegation 6 counties – 1 promotion, 1 relegation 6 counties – 1 promotion Seventeen counties will compete in the 2024 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship : six teams in
4950-747: The Celts. The earliest written references to the sport in Brehon law date from the 5th century. Seamus King's book A History of Hurling references oral history going back as far as 1200 BCE of the game being played in Tara , County Meath. Hurling is related to the games of shinty that is played primarily in Scotland, cammag on the Isle of Man and bando which was played formerly in England and Wales. The tale of
5049-648: The Hurling Festival within The Gathering events organised by Aer Lingus . This team was present in September 2013 in the city 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
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#17328017872835148-735: The Iomain Cholmcille festival, na Breathnaich coming out victorious. Wales has its own club, St. Colmcilles in Cardiff. Soldiers who served in the Irish Brigade during the Anglo-Boer War are believed to have played the game on the veldt . Immigrants from County Wicklow who had arrived to work in the explosives factory in Umbogintwini , KwaZulu-Natal formed a team c. 1915–16. A major burst of immigration in
5247-629: The Joe McDonagh Cup final. All other teams are eliminated from the championship and the bottom placed team are relegated to next years Christy Ring Cup. If the top team is from Munster, effectively Kerry, they may play a promotion/relegation playoff to enter the following season's Munster Championship. If any other team wins the Joe McDonagh, it is promoted to the Leinster Championship (even if from Ulster or Connacht), and
5346-525: The Munster final with Clare defeating Tipperary. The first team to win the All-Ireland through the 'back-door' was Offaly in 1998, winning a replay of the Leinster final by beating Kilkenny 2–16 to 1–13. The new "back-door system" proved successful and was expanded over the following years. The 2005 Championship saw even bigger changes in the "back-door" or qualifier system. The Munster and Leinster champions and defeated finalists automatically qualified for
5445-722: The North American continent date from the 1780s in modern-day Canada concerning immigrants from County Waterford and County Kilkenny , and also, in New York City. After the end of the American Revolution , references to hurling cease in American newspapers until the aftermath of the Great Famine when Irish people moved to America in huge numbers, bringing the game with them. Newspaper reports from
5544-422: The Scotland shinty team have played for many years with modified match rules (as with International 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
5643-417: The association restricted annual coverage of its games to the All-Ireland hurling and football finals, the two All-Ireland football semi-finals and the two Railway Cup finals. The first live broadcast of a hurling championship match was the All-Ireland final between Tipperary and Wexford on 2 September 1962. While the All-Ireland semi-finals were reintroduced in 1969, RTÉ was still confined to just broadcasting
5742-410: The ball for more than four steps has to bounce or balance the sliotar on the end of the stick (solo), and the ball can be handled only twice while in the player's possession. 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
5841-406: 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. Hurling is administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is played throughout the world and
5940-400: The championship and the bottom placed team may face relegation to next years Joe McDonagh Cup. Final (1 match): The top 2 teams in the group stage contest this game. The Munster champions advance to the All-Ireland semi-finals and the Munster runners-up advance to the All-Ireland quarter-finals. Group stage (15 matches): Each team plays each other once. The 1st and 2nd placed teams advance to
6039-419: The country to play against each other and these matches generated intense interest as the newspapers began to speculate which teams might be considered the best in the country. Secondly, although the number of clubs was growing, many were slow to affiliate to the Association, leaving it short of money. Establishing a central championship held the prospect of enticing GAA clubs to process their affiliations, just as
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#17328017872836138-412: The design of the GAA. Trophies are awarded to the All-Ireland runners-up. A miniature replica of the Liam MacCarthy Cup is awarded to the captain of the winning team. Since 1995, the All-Ireland Championship has been sponsored. The sponsor has usually been able to determine the championship's sponsorship name. From the early 1920s, British Pathé recorded newsreel footage of the All-Ireland finals which
6237-447: The end of 1889, almost a dozen GAA clubs existed in America, many of them in and around New York City, Philadelphia and Chicago. Later, clubs were formed in Boston, Cleveland , and many other centers of Irish America. Concord, New Hampshire has 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
6336-438: The establishment of the FA Cup had done much in the 1870s to promote the development of the Football Association in England . The championships were open to all affiliated clubs who would first compete in county-based competitions, to be run by local county committees. The winners of each county championship would then proceed to represent that county in the All-Ireland series. The inaugural All-Ireland Championship used, for
6435-467: The fact that one newspaper dubbed the game "Two Degrees Safer Than War". Arden Street Oval in North Melbourne was used by Irish immigrants during the 1920s. The game in Australasia is administered by Australasia GAA . Hurling was brought to Great Britain in the 19th century. The game is administered by British GAA . Warwickshire and Lancashire compete at inter-county level in the Lory Meagher Cup , competing against other counties in Ireland. London
6534-1211: 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 in Knoxville, 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, MT and Seattle, WA . The GAA have also begun to invest in American college students with university teams springing up at University of Connecticut , Stanford University , UC Berkeley , Purdue University , Indiana University , University of Montana and other schools. On 31 January 2009,
6633-458: 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." Hurling is older than the recorded history of Ireland. It is thought to predate Christianity, having come to Ireland with
6732-411: The final. In spite of this, highlights of the semi-finals were regularly shown. The All-Ireland final between Tipperary and Kilkenny on 5 September 1971 was the first to be broadcast in colour . The first All-Ireland semi-final to be broadcast live was the meeting of Cork and Galway on 7 August 1977. The popularity of the evening highlights programme led to the development of The Sunday Game , which
6831-415: 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
6930-399: The following year's final. Traditionally, the presentation is made at a special rostrum in the Ard Chomairle section of the Hogan Stand where GAA and political dignitaries and special guests view the match. The cup is decorated with ribbons in the colours of the winning team. During the game the cup actually has both teams' sets of ribbons attached and the runners-up ribbons are removed before
7029-446: 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 for Gaelic 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 consist of fifteen players:
7128-402: The group stage contest this game. The Leinster champions advance to the All-Ireland semi-finals and the Leinster runners-up advance to the All-Ireland quarter-finals. Group stage (10 matches): Each team plays each other once. The 1st and 2nd placed teams advance to the Munster final and the 3rd placed team advances to the all-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals. All other teams are eliminated from
7227-426: The highest combined total for an All-Ireland Championship since 2012, when 294,079 fans attended six games, including a final replay between Kilkenny and Galway. The highest all-time aggregate attendance for the championship was 332,387 in 2007 when eight games were played. Croke Park was initially used as the venue for All-Ireland quarter-finals following their introduction in 1997. These games were usually played as
7326-516: The hurling match attracted a crowd of five hundred Irish immigrants, while the Orange march shivered out of existence. Several hurling clubs existed in Victoria in 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
7425-403: 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. The following are considered technical fouls ("fouling the ball"): Can be deliberate or accidental, often accompanied by a card. They are as follows: Scoring is achieved by sending
7524-441: The last placed team in the Leinster Championship is relegated. Final (1 match): The top 2 teams in the group stage contest this game. The Joe McDonagh Cup champions and runners-up advance to the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals. Preliminary quarter-finals (2 matches): The 3rd placed teams from the Leinster and Munster championships play the Joe McDonagh Cup champions and runners-up. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while
7623-748: 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
7722-462: The most successful coming from the provinces of Leinster and Munster . 13 different teams have won the title, 10 of whom have been champions more than once. Kilkenny are the competition's most successful team, having been All-Ireland champions on 36 occasions. Kilkenny, Cork and Tipperary are considered " the big three " of hurling and hold 94 championships between them. The current title holders are Clare , who defeated Cork by 3–29 to 1–34 in
7821-439: The new quarter-final stages, while two groups of four other teams played in a league format to fill the vacant four places in the quarter-finals. Many criticised the structure for not being a real championship at all, for degrading the Munster and Leinster championships and for penalising the strongest teams. 2008 brought a change to the competition format, whereby the team that won the Leinster and Munster championships advanced to
7920-421: The newly opened Cork Athletic Grounds on two occasions. Managers in the All-Ireland Championship are involved in the day-to-day running of the team, including the training, team selection, and sourcing of players from the club championships. Their influence varies from county-to-county and is related to the individual county boards. From 2018, all inter-county head coaches must be Award 2 qualified. The manager
8019-608: The only time in its history, an open draw format without the provincial series of games. All of the existing county boards were eligible to enter a team, however, only six chose to do so. Disputes in Cork and Limerick over which club should represent the county resulted in neither county fielding a team. Dublin later withdrew from the championship. In all five teams participated: Clare (Garraunboy Smith O'Briens), Galway ( Meelick ), Kilkenny ( Tullaroan ) Tipperary ( Thurles ) and Wexford (Castlebridge). Galway and Wexford contested
8118-507: The presentation. The winning captain accepts the cup on behalf of his team before giving a short speech. Individual members of the winning team then have an opportunity to come to the rostrum to lift the cup. The Liam MacCarthy Cup commemorates the memory of Liam MacCarthy . Born in London to Irish parents in 1851, he was prominently involved in the establishment of a county board in London in
8217-415: The quarter-finals join the Leinster and Munster champions to make up the semi-final pairings. Teams who may have already met in the provincial championships are kept apart in separate semi-finals where possible. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the final. Final (1 match): The two winners of the semi-finals contest this game. Teams from the first two levels are eligible for
8316-411: 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),
8415-521: The regular venue for the All-Ireland final. Only on two occasions since then has the final been played outside of Croke Park. Construction of the Cusack Stand in 1937 meant that that year's final was played at the newly opened FitzGerald Stadium in Killarney . In 1984 the GAA celebrated its centenary by playing the All-Ireland final at Semple Stadium in Thurles . In the years prior to 1910,
8514-691: 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. 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 in Melbourne as a counterpoint to a march by the Orange Order . Reportedly,
8613-424: The standard of physicality and intensity in which the hurlers engaged. In 2007, Forbes magazine described the media attention and population multiplication of Thurles town ahead of one of the game's annual provincial hurling finals as being "the rough equivalent of 30 million Americans watching a regional lacrosse game". Financial Times columnist Simon Kuper wrote after Stephen Bennett 's performance in
8712-473: The twentieth century saw Cork , Kilkenny as well as Tipperary dominate hurling with each of these counties winning more than 20 All-Ireland titles each. Wexford , Waterford , Clare , Limerick , Offaly , Antrim , Dublin , and Galway were also strong hurling counties during the twentieth century. As hurling entered the new millennium, it has remained Ireland's second most popular sport behind Gaelic football . An extended qualifier system resulted in
8811-552: The very first championship match on Saturday 2 July 1887. Postponements, disqualifications, objections, withdrawals and walkovers were regular occurrences during the initial years of the championship. The inaugural All-Ireland final took place on 1 April 1888 in Birr, County Offaly , with Tipperary defeating Galway to take the title. The provincial championships were introduced in 1888 in Munster , Leinster , Connacht and Ulster on
8910-431: The winners advance to the quarter-finals. Quarter-finals (2 matches): The winners of the preliminary quarter-finals join the Leinster and Munster runners-up to make up the quarter-final pairings. Teams who may have already met in the provincial championships are kept apart in separate quarter-finals. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the semi-finals. Semi-finals (2 matches): The winners of
9009-483: Was considered to be the fairest system as the All-Ireland champions would always be the only undefeated team of the year. Unlike in other European countries, such as neighbouring England, where annual sports events were cancelled during the twentieth century due to the First and Second World Wars , the All-Ireland Championship has been running continuously since 1887, with the final running since 1889 (the 1888 competition
9108-410: Was 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 as La Nación . After the outbreak of World War I , it became almost impossible to obtain hurleys from Ireland. An attempt
9207-469: Was formed when U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq saw a hurling game on the television in Shannon Airport as 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
9306-402: Was later shown in cinemas around the country. The National Film Institute and Gael Linn later produced their own newsreels of All-Ireland finals with Michael O'Hehir providing commentary. These newsreels were staples for cinema-goers until the 1960s. Following the establishment of 2RN , Ireland's first radio broadcasting station , on 1 January 1926, sports coverage, albeit infrequent, was
9405-470: 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 II finally 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
9504-552: Was no designated sports department within Irish radio for many years, a two-way relationship between the national broadcaster and the GAA was quickly established. As well as exclusive live commentaries, Seán Ó Ceallacháin began broadcasting a weekly results programme on Radio Éireann in 1930. When Telefís Éireann was established on 31 December 1961, the new station was interested in the broadcasting of championship games. The GAA, however, were wary that live television coverage would result in lower attendances at games. Because of this,
9603-605: Was played but no final was held due to the Invasion ). The competition continued even in spite of the effects on the country of the Civil War and the Second World War (the National Hurling League was not held during the latter). In 1941 , the All-Ireland Championship was disrupted by an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease . The duration of certain championship matches increased from 60 to 80 minutes during
9702-487: 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 ever U.S. National Collegiate Champions . All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship , known simply as the All-Ireland Championship , is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by
9801-613: Was the last recipient of the original Liam MacCarthy Cup in 1991 before it was retired. It is now on display in the GAA Museum in Croke Park. JMK Gold & Silversmith's produced an exact replica which was first awarded to Liam Fennelly of Kilkenny in 1992. In accordance with GAA rules, the Central Council awards up to twenty-six gold medals to the winners of the All-Ireland final. The medals are 9 carat gold and depict
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