Day 14 (cont) Hurling at Thurles

Pre Game Warm up

First of all, apologies for the late arrival of this post, but it was due to my late arrival home!!! I dropped Marie and Patrick off at 11.59 pm, after a wonderful day at the Hurling

When I came home I thought I would just add a few quick pics, but then I had somehow managed to stuff up the morning's writings, and that was over writing the other posts on the blog page. Not the ideal time to be doing Problem Solving 101, so I just deleted nearly everything and put something up to appease the masses!!! 😁😂

So, where do I begin. We fitted so much just into the afternoon and evening.

This is where we went

Map of Lahinch to Thurles

BTW - you pronounce it Thurl-es, not Thurls. The e sounds like e as in egg!

Thurles  is quite close to the Rock of Cashel.

So the day started with shame and embarrassment.... never thought I would be caught dead in these colours  - but the things you do when you're travelling!!

Patrick and I before we went.

We took my car as Pat was working so it was just Marie and Patrick and I.

The journey was lovely, but it's hard to anticipate times for the journey when many of the little roads are quite windey and we also went through lots of villages where you have to slow down to 50 km/hr.

Irish roads - taken by Marie

Irish roads - taken by Marie

We went through Tipperary town - commonly called Tip-town

Tipperary Town

Tipperary Town

We did drive on the major highway that leads to Limerick and beyond, and that was a fabulous road, but then we had to turn off for Thurles.

About 10 km before Thurles was a place Marie wanted to show me - Holy Cross Abbey

It says on their website

Holycross Abbey has a rich and interesting history. Holycross Abbey is a restored medieval Cistercian monastery on the banks of the River Suir in Co. Tipperary. A relic of the True Cross drew pilgrims from far and wide since its foundation by Dónal Mór Ó Briain, King of Limerick, in 1182AD. Around 1400AD the Butlers of Ormond were patrons and many renovations were carried out. A second relic, the Ormond Relic, was enshrined in the Abbey. Many of the unique architectural features date from the 15th century rebuild.

It was lovely and peaceful there and it's a shame we didn't have time to spend a little longer there.

Holy Cross Abbey

Holy Cross Abbey

Holy Cross Abbey

Holy Cross Abbey

Holy Cross Abbey

So after that little touch of peace and calm, we headed for the Hurling!

It was held at Semple Stadium, which is the home of the GAA

I thought the GAA was just about Gaelic footy but it seems it relates to 6 different sports

There are six different games in the family of Gaelic Games. These are Hurling, Gaelic football, Handball, Rounders, Camogie and Ladies Football.

Today was a match between Clare and Waterford, and the winner would probably progress to the Munster final to see who would represent Munster at the next level-so it was quite a big deal game.

As we approached the stadium, it felt like going to the footy at home, perhaps on a slightly smaller scale. You could sense the excitement in the cord and everyone was wearing their colours.

Crowd entering Semple stadium

Semple Stadium

Once inside it was slightly different as it was a rectangular pitch, but there was quite a crowd there, and when Clare scored it's goals, it really felt like being at the footy!

The match started at 6 pm, but they didn't use the lights, as they have daylight saving over here and it stays light until nearly 9 pm. 

BTW we won!!! Clare 2-22 defeated Waterford 0-16

You get 3 points for a goal. You score a point if you hit the ball over the bar between the two big white posts and you score a goal if you get the ball into the net at the bottom of the pasts.

With the program

Our view

Warm up before the game started

The game was quite exciting and fast and they were very skillful in the way the hit the ball. The bat is called a hurley and the ball is called a sliotar.

Here's a little summary of Hurling

Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of players and much terminology. Wikipedia

Contact: Full

Equipment: Sliotar, hurley, shinguard (optional) helmet (not optional)

First played: Prehistoric origin

Highest governing body: Gaelic Athletic Association

Mixed-sex: Camogie is the female variant

Olympic: Demonstration sport 1904

Team members: 15 players per side; substitutes are permitted

After the match, I was amazed that the players stayed on the pitch and signed autographs and hurleys and had their pictures taken. They were very generous with their time. Apparently all the players are amateurs and all have proper day jobs as well.

Patrick was in his element as he elbowed his way in to get his shirt signed and his hurley. Marie kept lining me up to have my pic taken with various players. No idea who they were but Patrick could name each one! Reminded me a bit of my 11 year old self, when I used to run on to Glenferrie Oval with my autograph book! 

Here's a selection - don't laugh!!!!

Clare supporter

Have to ask Patrick who this was!

Patrick with one of his heroes

More heroes

With the local garda

We didn't leave the ground until about 8.30 pm, so we drove off in the dusk and it was such a lovely time to travel. We stopped in Tip-Town for something to eat and had some lovely pizza. 

Tea at Tip Town

So I eventually got home just after midnight and I've described above the dramas with my blog, which I have just left until now (It's just on noon here now!)

I had a wonderful day with Marie and Patrick. Patrick was great company in the car and entertained us with some local myths and stories and we had a few songs and lots of conversation - especially about Clare Hurling Team! I felt so blessed to share such a great day with my family.

Thanks Marie and Patrick 😍😍