Irish Games and Sports
Describes the traditional games, sports, and fairs of Ireland.
Location: Ireland
Games and Fairs in Early Ireland
Games represent some of Ireland's oldest known traditions, including its most popular sports today. From prehistory to the Middle Ages, regular harvest festivals attracted competitors from across the island. There, contestants participated in athletic events, browsed exotic markets, and made merry with the help of poets and musicians. The Teltown, or Tailtiu, Fair was a particularly notable gathering. It began around the 7th century BCE and ended in 1169 CE, though there have been several attempts to revive it.[1][2]
Gaelic Football and Hurling
These fairs led to the development of several island-wide sports, now collectively referred to as Gaelic games. Most popular today are Gaelic football and hurling. Gaelic football traces back to the 13th-century game caid, similar to rugby. In early matches, hundreds of players took to the field to battle for control of the ball. Injuries were common. The Gaelic Athletic Authority laid out formal rules for the game in 1884, after several attempts to outlaw it. In the modern sport, two teams of 15 players kick, throw, or punch the ball past a goalie to score points.[3]
Hurling, or an early version of it, appears in some of Ireland's best-known myths. The legendary hero Cúchulain supposedly played the game, beating 150 opponents. Fionn mac Cumhaill, the great Irish hero, competed against the Tuatha Dé Danann gods. The game was apparently common enough for medieval brehon laws to discuss the value of hurling sticks in some detail.[3] When Anglo-Irish lords settled in Ireland, they developed a taste for the game as well, much to the concern of the British Crown. Hurling and its female equivalent, camogie, is still commonly played in Ireland today.[5]
Other Major Sports of Ireland
In addition to Gaelic games, Irish people compete in a number of international sports. Soccer, golf, and rugby are all popular, along with horseback riding. Equestrian sports date back to the fields of ancient Irish fairs, a favorite pastime of the nobility. Today, Irish equestrians compete at sports like horse racing, dressage and show jumping. The equine industry in Ireland contributes $1.1 billion to its economy annually.[5][6] Overall, sports in Ireland are worth an estimated $2.4 billion per year.[7]
Bibliography
Daniel Bell, Encyclopedia of International Games (Jefferson: Mcfarland, 2011), 373.
Patrick W. Joyce, A Smaller Social History of Ancient Ireland (London, NY, and Bombay: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1906), 497-504.
Andy Watters and Neil Loughran, The Little Book of Gaelic Football (Dublin, Ireland: The History Press Ireland, 2013).
John O'Donovan et al., Ancient laws of Ireland: Senchus Mor, Pt. II (Dublin: Published for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by Alexander Thom, 1869), 147.
Paul Rouse, Sport and Ireland: A History (Croydon: Oxford University, 2015).
Robert McHugh, "Horse Industry Worth Over $1.1bn Annually to the Irish Economy," Business World, October 15, 2015, Business World, accessed March 8, 2017.
Eileesh Buckley, "New Awards for the Irish Sports Industry," Irish Examiner, October 28, 2015, Irish Examiner, accessed March 08, 2017.
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