Old Parish: Notes on Hurling

Hurling is Ireland’s national game, captivating even those who have never played it. Ciarán Murphy, a lifelong club footballer, was one of them—until he spent a summer trying to play hurling with a small club in the West Waterford Gaeltacht. Along the way, he embarked on a journey to understand the history, geography, and mystique of this extraordinary sport. Old Parish is the club of Ciarán’s father, where many of his relatives remain deeply involved—and possibly the only place bold enough to welcome a forty-one-year-old newcomer. Predictably, and often hilariously, Ciarán discovers just how challenging hurling can be when taking it up later in life against men who have played since childhood. Alongside his personal trials, Ciarán explores why hurling is played in only half the country, the historical tensions between hurling and football clubs, the challenges of establishing hurling in new areas, the secrets of hurley-making, and why the words of hurling legends—calling it “the greatest game ever played by any man”—carry weight. For anyone who has watched hurling and wondered what makes it so unique, Old Parish explains why. Read more