Eirball.International – Poc Fada, Shinty and International Rules

An Poc Fada – ‘the Long Puck’ is a Gaelic Game where players use a Hurley to hit a Sliotar (ball) up the side of a mountain and down the other side in as few pucks or shots as possible. The sport would have a similar origin to the Scottish Game of Golf. It is mentioned in the myths and legends of Ireland, when Setanta took his Hurley / Hurl and hit his Sliotar all the way from Co Louth to Co. Armagh in one go. The All-Ireland Poc Fada Championships have taken place in the Cooley Mountains in Co. Louth since 1961 in commemoration of the legendary feat.

The common feature of International Rules sports is an agreement between two similar sports with a shared history to play a game featuring a compromise between the two sets of rules in question. For example, with Shinty being 12-a-side and Hurling 15-a-side, most Hurling-Shinty games have been 14-a-side. Likewise in Compromise Rules Football, 18-a-side is employed as Gaelic Football is 15-a-side and Australian Football is 21-a-side. A compromise in the scoring is also made in the Football version, with the GAA’s Goals (worth 3 GAA points)and Overs (worth 1 GAA point) combined with AFL’s Goals (worth 6 AFL points) and Behinds (worth 1 AFL point) combined to give Goals (worth 6 points), Overs (worth 3 points) and Behinds (worth 1 point).

The ancestral game to Shinty was brought to Scotland by emigrants from Ireland hundreds of years ago, and the sport has such a similarity to its’ close neighbour, Hurling, that the first Hurling-Shinty Compromise Rules game was played over 100 years ago. Other Compromise Rules sports (also known as International Rules) between Gaelic Games and related sports include Handball-Pelota, first organised by Eamonn De Valera between Ireland and the Basque Country; Compromise Rules Football between Ireland and Australia; Rounders-Softball; Rounders-Baseball; Hurlacrosse and Poc Fada Golf.

Shinty is Gaelic Scotland’s traditional version of Hurling. It is one of the forgotten Gaelic, Celtic or Atlantic Games like Basque Pelota and Welsh Baseball, played mostly in Gaelic parts of Scotland like the Highlands and Islands. The game is very similar to Hurling, with a curved stick used to hit a ball through a goal, except there is no point-over-the-bar and less play in the air. The game is 12-a-side as opposed to Hurling’s 15-a-side.

For more details on these sports and results of games please follow the links in each section below or by clicking on the relevant links in the Navigation Bar.

GAA Poc Fada

An Poc Fada – ‘the Long Puck’ is a Gaelic Game where players use a Hurley to hit a Sliotar (ball) up the side of a mountain and down the other side in as few pucks or shots as possible.

The sport would have a similar origin to the Scottish Game of Golf. It is mentioned in the myths and legends of Ireland, when Setanta took his Hurley / Hurl and hit his Sliotar all the way from Co Louth to Co. Armagh in one go. The All-Ireland Poc Fada Championships have taken place in the Cooley Mountains in Co. Louth since 1961 in commemoration of the legendary feat.

Links to the Results of the GAA Poc Fada All-Ireland CHampionships from the inaugural Championship in 1961 (Men’s) and 2009 (Ladies) are available at the links in blue (below the picture).

Connacht GAA Poc Fada

Leinster GAA Poc Fada

Munster GAA Poc Fada

Ulster GAA Poc Fada

International Rules

International Rules, also known as Compromise Rules is a term for a number of related sports combining the rules of GAA sports with similar sports from around the World. There is International Rules Football, played between Ireland and Australia, Hurling-Shinty, played between Ireland and Scotland, Handball-Pelota, which is Ireland v Basque Country, as well as Rounders-Baseball and Rounders-Softball (Irish teams v American, Canadian and Britsh teams), Hurlacrosse (Hurling-Lacrosse – Ireland v Iroquois Nationals), and Poc Fada Golf (A Golf Course where players use a Hurl/Hurley to hit the ball into the hole)

Hurling-Shinty Internationals

Featured Image Credits: [1] INVERNESS CITY, SCOTLAND – 18 OCTOBER 2014: This is a scene from within the International Shinty-Hurling match between Scotland and Eire at Bught Park, Inverness, Scotland on 18 October, 2014. By JASPERIMAGE / shutterstock.com [Internet] Available from: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/inverness-city-scotland-18-october-2014-225347293 [Accessed and Edited by Enda Mulcahy for Eirball 31 October 2022]

Handball-Pelota

Featured Image Credit: [1] New York, USA – May 31, 2019: Daytime image of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 2 handball courts By Alexandre Tziripouloff [Internet] Available from: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/new-york-usa-may-31-2019-1496618819 [Accessed 2 June 2021]

Rounders-Baseball

[2] Pexels Pixabay green ball on sand [Internet] Available from: https://www.pexels.com/photo/green-ball-on-sand-257970/ [Accessed 31 October 2022]

Hurlacrosse Internationals

Poc Fada Golf

Tallaght Rules Basketball-Futsal

Shinty in Ireland

Camanachd Association National Leagues

Camanachd Association Cups

Women’s Camanachd Association

Scottish Universities Shinty

Camanachd Association North Region

Camanachd Association South Region

Shinty Teams

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