School: Ballyheedy, Ballinhassig (roll number 15550)
- Location:
- Ballyheedy, Co. Cork
- Teacher: Seán Ó Haonghusa
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0322, Page 235
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- Before the G. A. A . was established hurling was not what it is now. There was no special length to the pitch nor were there any side-lines. It was just an ordinary field with two opposite corners as goals. There were there were two marks put on the fences with hurleys about four yards from the corners. The ball was about as big as a football and was stuffed with feathers. The hurleys had very narrow bosses. They were made at home by the players, who took off their coats to play.
The ball could never be pucked far in the air because it was too heavy. The game was mostly a struggle for the ball. If there was a good man in one team the captain of the other team would get the strongest man in his team to hold him until the game was over. The game was over when one team scored a goal. The game could last five minutes or half a day, and the players would get no rest.
Twenty or thirty years ago there were a lot of stories told about matches played over sixty years ago, but now they are forgotten. The Ballyheada team and the Ballymartle team were great rivals for a long time Once when they were playing against each other a Ballyheada man was bringing the ball into the Ballymartle goal when a man jumped down off the(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Humphrey Hennessy
- Gender
- Male
