Brother Liam Ó Caithnia’s epic history of hurling brought back to life

— Storyteller from the 19th century

Striking the sliotar farthest is no longer a mark of greatness, we can safely assume, in Lisbrack, as was the case going by this account contained in The Epic Origins of Hurling, a copy of which arrived through the post during the past week.

There is much in the way of fascinating detail on the ancient game to be discovered within the book's covers, from early reference in the mythology of Cúchulainn through the ages to where it is stands today.

The Epic Origins of Hurling is an enriching read detailing the game's development over the centuries. In a foreword, Brian Cody describes the work as "an amazing gift" to GAA people and "those of us who love the game of hurling in particular".

The hard-back is a translation of an earlier work in Irish by Brother Liam Ó Caithnia, published in 1980, which ran to 800 pages and was left largely unappreciated for decades.

​The Cork native was a teacher in St Joseph's in Fairview where a number of past pupils joined forces to produce this abridged version of the original, conscious that the book remained hidden from most of the hurling world.

Cody notes his amazement on reading about the strength of hurling in virtually every county and how his own Kilkenny struggled to keep up to speed, while the game "thrived throughout the North and the Midlands, and in counties like Mayo".

As for the 'finest girl' being the prize for the longest striker in Longford, the custom is explained and placed in proper context. 'It appears that it was very well understood beforehand which two were fond of each other' and 'the match (marriage arrangement) were to be settled accordingly.' It adds that the origins of a custom of 'winning the young woman as a result of a match go very far back'.

Ó Caithnia's history of hurling, Scéal na hIomána, was an exhaustive work, written initially as an academic thesis. The English translation has been produced by a team including alumni of St Joseph's — Stephen and Michael McGrath, and scholars Liam Mac Mathúna and Padraigín Riggs — to make it more accessible. The project was conceived by past pupil, Brendan McGrath, as a fundraising initiative for the school.

Donal Curtin, a founding member of Na Piarsaigh in Limerick and a Cork native, with a keen interest in the GAA and the Irish language, came up with the idea to translate Ó Caithnia's work in 2008 but died a year later before he could complete the project. The new work is dedicated to his memory.

​Having flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries, hurling began to suffer a lengthy decline after the 1798 Rebellion. The gentry no longer supported the game, turning instead to rugby and cricket, and the Famine accelerated hurling's decline before its rebirth in 1884.

An account of the unruliness of hurling is included from Ballymacoda, in County Cork, from 1844, leading to the game being banned from the parish.

'In the end, when things were getting out of hand and there was a danger there would be corpses, a person jumped on a horse and charged off to get a priest. He came and must have looked aghast when he saw the state they were in. He made peace between them and ordered them never to hold a hurley again for the rest of their lives.'

"We all think we know everything that we need to know about the long story of our greatest game," states Cody in his foreword. "When we read this book, however, we realise that we have known so little."