Hurl (stick)
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A hurley or hurl or hurling stick ( Irish: ''camán'') is a wooden stick used in the Irish sports of
hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...
and
camogie Camogie ( ; ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game "hurling" (which is played by men only), it is organised ...
. It typically measures between long with a flattened, curved ''bas'' ( , " palm of hand") at the end. The ''bas'' is used to strike a leather ''
sliotar A sliotar ( , ) or sliothar is a hard solid sphere slightly larger than a tennis ball, consisting of a cork core covered by two pieces of leather stitched together. Sometimes called a "hurling ball", it resembles a baseball with more pronounced ...
'' ball. GAA Rule 4.5 specifies that the bas should be no more than 13 cm at its widest point, however this rule is "ignored completely", with most hurleys having a ''bas'' in the region of 15.24 to 17 cm.


Name

Different varieties of
Hiberno-English Hiberno-English or Irish English (IrE), also formerly sometimes called Anglo-Irish, is the set of dialects of English native to the island of Ireland. In both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, English is the first language in e ...
call the stick either a 'hurl' or 'hurley'. There are regional variations, with 22 of Ireland's 32 counties using the term 'hurl' according to a poll in 2020, which found that 97% of people in
County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...
preferred the name 'hurley', while 98% of people in
County Wexford County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...
preferred 'hurl'. The use of the word 'hurl', to refer to the stick, reputedly dates back to at least 1882.


Form and construction

Hurleys are typically made from ash wood; the base of the tree near the root is the only part used and is usually bought from local craftsmen in Ireland (for about €20–50), who still use traditional production methods. Beginning in 2020,
Torpey Torpey is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *John Torpey (born 1959), American academic, sociologist and historian * Kaitlyn Torpey (born 2000), Australian women's footballer * Noel Torpey (born 1971), American politician *Pat Tor ...
began manufacturing
bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...
hurleys in response to the effects of ash dieback on ash trees in Ireland. For some time in the 1970s, hurleys made from plastic were used, mainly produced by
Wavin Wavin B.V. is a global manufacturer of plastic pipes, mainly for drainage and water supply purposes. The company was officially founded in the Netherlands on 5 August 1955, its name deriving from water and vinyl chloride. The company provides plas ...
. These proved more likely to cause injury and were phased out. As of 2012, at least one manufacturer was producing synthetic hurleys approved for use by the GAA. On wooden hurleys, steel bands are used to reinforce the flattened end - though these are not permitted in
camogie Camogie ( ; ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game "hurling" (which is played by men only), it is organised ...
due to increased risk of injury. Bands have been put on hurleys since the beginning; the 8th century
Brehon Laws Early Irish law, also called Brehon law (from the old Irish word breithim meaning judge), comprised the statutes which governed everyday life in Early Medieval Ireland. They were partially eclipsed by the Norman invasion of 1169, but underwe ...
permit only a king's son to have a
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
band, while all others must use a
copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
band. No matter how well crafted the hurley is, a hurler may well expect to use several hurleys over the course of the hurling season. The hurleys often break if two collide in the course of a game, or occasionally they break off on the other players (arms, legs, etc.). Two hurleys colliding is colloquially known as "the clash of the ash", a poetic description that has come to be used as a romantic or poetic synonym for the game itself. Some hurleys can be repaired by a method called "splicing". This method involves cutting a ''bas''-shaped piece from another broken hurley and fixing it to the broken ''bas'' by way of glue and nails; the two-piece ''bas'' is then banded ("hooped") and sanded into shape. (The face of the hurley is called the ''bas'', and is the area used to strike the ball.) Throwing the hurley (e.g., to block a ball going high over one's head) is illegal, though camogie players may drop it to make a handpass. There are names associated with different parts of the hurley. The ''bas'' is the rounded end of the hurley where the sliotar makes contact as it is being struck. At the same end the "heel" of the hurley is the area to the left of the band and at the hurley's edge. It is used to give height to a ball struck on the ground. The rounded area to the right of the band is the "toe" of the hurley and is used in the roll lift or jab lift techniques which allow a player to gain legal possession of a ball into the hand from the ground. The handle is at the opposite end of the hurley to the ''bas'', with the timber cut to form a small lip at the peak (to prevent the hurley from slipping from the player's hand). The handle is typically wrapped with a self-adhesive synthetic foam grip or tape. When selecting a hurley, choosing the correct size is very important as a hurley that is the incorrect length can be difficult to swing correctly. A correctly sized hurley should be just touching the ground when gripped at the top and held parallel to the player's leg with their arms relaxed. Traditionally it was recommended that the toe of the hurley should reach the player's hip when the heel of the hurley is placed on the ground and held parallel to the player's leg. This has proved inaccurate and unsuitable since two players of the same height can have a difference of 4 inches or 10 centimetres in hip height.


As a gift

The hurley is often given as a gift to or between politicians; for example,
Mary McAleese Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer, academic, author, and former politician who served as the president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. McAleese was first elected as president in 1997, ...
was given two when she was awarded the freedom of
Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...
in 2009, and
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
was given one by
Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 201 ...
on his visit to Ireland in 2011.
Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...
was also given a hurley and sliotar as a gift during Queen
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
's visit to Ireland.


References


External links


Official Hurling Page of GAA.ie

"Thirty Irishmen With Shillelaghs"
''Popular Mechanics'', March 1954, pp. 146–147.
"After ash - alternative hurleys of future (and present)"
RTÉ, 23 March 2021 {{Hurling Hurling equipment