Ben: Croke Park Makes Me Want To Hurl

When I arrived in Ireland and first heard about the sport of Hurling, I was astounded that I had never even heard of it, let alone seen anything like it—and yet, it was everywhere! The sport dates back even to Irish mythology when the sport was played by the hero Cúchulainn. The famous sport completely slipped under my radar, and when I first saw it, I was thoroughly intrigued and had to see more!



After my initial education on the subject of Hurling and the hours spent watching matches on Setanta Sport, the Irish TV network, I felt that I had really gotten a feel for the sport, and understood it for the most part. I must say however, that the full effect of a Hurling match must be experienced in person to really get a feel for how extraordinary it really is.I pack in to my seat, shoulder to shoulder amongst the other spectators (at least, in our section, as the stadium was not even close to sold out) and find that I am much closer to the action than I would have expected; while still on the field, players could come to as close as 25 feet from where I was seated. Not even the TV cameras can capture as accurately as the naked eye the control that is possessed by the players as they balance the puck on the small flat wooden surface while sprinting downfield between the hacking hurleys.The hurler takes aim, tosses up his bullet, cocks back his weapon, and swings with all his might at the sliotar (or puck). On occasion, I can hear only the slap of leather on flesh, as a weathered hand rises up and plucks the sliotar right out of its plummet toward the soil. The roaring crowd cheers in a vocal symphony of “oooohs” and “aaaahs”, as the puck sails through the air, back and forth across the vast sprawling pitch. As it hurtles back toward the earth, it is met by the momentous crack of hurley-on-hurley collision, administered by the players battling for control. In an instant, I am wondering how anyone might choose to forego a helmet amongst all the fast-paced swinging and slinging of wood and hard cork. Commonly recognized as the most fast-paced field sport in the world, seeing Hurling live is another experience altogether.
As I was told subsequently, the match we saw was quite a mismatch of team abilities. Kilkenny supposedly belongs in another division compared to Wexford, so this game was much less exciting than a more competitive match-up, but it was exciting seeing this new and exciting sport up-close and in person all the same.