Ireland

Exciting sporting facts

The Tailtean Games, 632 B.C.
In Ireland people organised sports competitions as early as 632 B.C. The so-called Tailtean Games were held in honour of Queen Tailte. Among the disciplines were chariot and horse racing, running, long jump, high jump and triple jump, stone-putting, javelin and hammer throwing, wrestling, boxing, ball games, swimming and diving.

Hurling
The Irish sport of Hurling is documented as early as 560 A.D. Hurling is similar to hockey, but it is played with a small ball and a wooden bat, the "hurley". The bat can be used any way you like and can even be swung above the head. The ball can also be thrown by hand or it can be kicked across the field. As you can imagine, hurling is a fast and sometimes rough game.

Gaelic football
This traditional Irish ball game is similar to rugby and is played by two teams of 15 players each. The ball is kicked across the field, but the players are also allowed to touch it by hand. After four steps, however, the ball has to be either touched down or kicked on. The playing field is bigger than a normal football pitch. There is a goal at each end, with the goal posts reaching up in the air beyond the crossbar. A ball that goes into the goal is worth 3 points, a ball that goes over the bar scores 1 point. The game is played in two halves of 35 minutes each.

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