camogie

Ireland's native field sport for women, a 12-a-side stick-and-ball game. It is a modified form of hurling, and the rules are very similar except that unnecessary physical contact and shouldering, or body-charging, are expressly forbidden.

The game was established at the start of the 20th century when some branches of the Gaelic League (the Irish language movement) evolved their own game from men's hurling which they called ‘camogie’. The Cumann na CamUgaíochta Na Gael (Camogie Association of Ireland) was founded in 1904, but the game did not develop until the first intervarsity competition, the Ashbourne Cup, was established in 1915. The first national championship was held in 1932, when Dublin beat Galway. The All-Ireland Championship is now held annually with the final being played at Croke Park, Dublin, the principle Gaelic games venue in the country.

Other differences from hurling are the size of the field, which is marginally smaller; the duration of play, 25 minutes a side for championship games; and the use of a ‘camóg’ rather than the larger ‘camán’. The camóg is about 91 cm/3 ft long in the handle and used to strike a ball, or ‘sliotar’, of about 23 cm/9 in circumference.