Month: June 2022

Shinty Matches in Ireland 18th Century

Scoreboard

Note: Actual Date in 1779 unknown. References: [S-2]

Report

Even by the 18th Century the differences between Hurley/Hurling, also known as Summer or Leinster Hurling or Iomáiníocht in Irish, and Camán or Camánaíocht in Irish, which was played across the Northern Half of the Island of Ireland, and Shinty or Camanachd in Scottish Gaelic, which was played primarily in the Scottish Highlands, was discernible from the reports. [References: S-1 to S-2]

A game of ‘Shiney’ was played in 1779 between the local Cork Racket Court Club and the 81st Regiment. It was described as the ‘Caledonian Game’ and must be the earliest reference to a game of Shinty in Ireland. [References: S-2]

REFERENCES

[S-2] Paul Rouse (2015) “The Spread of Sporting Clubs: Hurling” Sport & Ireland: A History. pp. 81. Oxford University Press. 2015.

[S-1] Seamus J King (1996, 1998) “A Popular Game in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries” A History of Hurling. pp. 10-24. Gill and Macmillan. Dublin, 1996, 1998.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Emerson Callendar.

ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American & World Sports Archive / GAA World Archive

Last Updated: 1 June 2022

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