Hurling Match!

 

This past Wednesday I went to my first hurling match. Since arriving in Ireland, I have heard that hurling is one of the most popular sports on the island, but I had never heard of it before this trip. Going into the match on Wednesday, I was excited to learn about what exactly was going to happen during the match, but I also had no idea what I should be expecting. I was expecting something similar to field hockey due to the equipment used in the game, but I found that it was its own completely unique sport. I learned that the scoring is the same as Gaelic football, where a shot through the uprights is worth one point and a goal in the net is worth three, but other than that, I have zero idea what the rules are. We were trying to figure out how the game worked without googling what the rules were, or what was happening, and we made it through the game, but I think I would have been able to enjoy it more if I actually knew what was going on, and what the rules were. 

I found this game to be very fun and interesting to watch, and I especially enjoyed that the game allowed us to all come together as a big group and do something. It is hard to get all of us together to do things, just because of how many of us there are and how our schedules all line up, but this was something that everyone was able to participate in. It was fun getting to interact with people that I do not always see, due to different class schedules and different daily routines. I had a lot of fun watching this match, and it was very interesting to learn about hurling and how popular it is in Irish life. 

In Dubliners by James Joyce, he mentions the sport of hurling in the short story "A Little Cloud" In this story hurling is mentioned when the protagonist is reflecting on his life. He remembers when he participated in hurling matches during his summers at home, and longs for a childhood and simpler times. This reminded me of the hurling match that I attended because not only did in mention the sport, but it reminded me of how when I was young I participated in multiple organized sports without a care in the world, but now I am so focused on school and the future that I sometimes find myself longing for when I was young and playing those sports. 

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