Liz: Camogie

We visited the GAA museum; this is the museum devoted to hurling and camogie. In Ireland, hurling is not only one of the most loved sports, but it is always the big event every weekend. When somebody asks, “Are you going to the match?” Everybody is aware that they are being asked if they are going to the Sunday hurling match. “The object of the game is for players to use a wooden axe-shaped stick called a hurl (in Irish a "camán", pronounced kam-awn), or a hurley, to hit a small ball between the opponents' goalposts either over the crossbar for one point, or under the crossbar into a net guarded by a goalkeeper for three points. The ball 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 stick. It can be kicked or slapped with an open hand (the hand pass) for short-range passing (Wikipedia)”


In Ireland, there is one big stadium used for hurling, camogie, music festivals and gaelic football; it is Croke Park. The park’s capacity is 82,500 people and it is the fourth largest stadium in the European Union.


Camogie is the women’s version of the Irish sport hurling. The Camogie league began in 1904 so that women could enjoy playing the sport of hurling as well. There are a few minor differences between the men and women’s leagues though. One of the differences is that women have a shorter hurling stick, Camogie games last 60 minutes as opposed to the 70-minute games played by men, and Camogie players are allowed to hand pass a score. Although women have altered rules and different name than men’s hurling there are similarities within the leagues; such as the counties divide the teams and as in men's hurling, Cork and Kilkenny are the top teams for Camogie.

In 2004 the Camogie league celebrated their one hundred year anniversary since their formation. And a mere two years later, the WNBA in America celebrated their ten-year anniversary, the Women’s National Basketball Association in the United States was founded in 1996, ninety two years after the Camogie league began. In Ireland, it seems that women are seen equally as athletic as men are, whereas in America it took a while for those that influence the way sporting leagues are run to realize that women can play hard too.

This is the uniform worn by women while playing Camogie.