Welcome to the Eirball GAA World landing (index) page to the All-Time Results and Tables of Celtic Games. It is an ongoing project.

Celtic Games include Scottish Shinty (a Scottish Gaelic version of Hurling), Welsh Baseball (A traditional Welsh and Liverpudlian version of Rounders or Baseball), Manx Cammag (An uncodified version of Hurling from the third Gaelic region: Isle of Man), Cornish Hurling (An uncodified version of Rugby Football from the small British Celtic region), and the Gaelic Athletic Association regions of Galicia GAA (North West Iberia – Spain & Portugal) and Brittany GAA (North West Gaul – France) where 13-v-13 versions of Gaelic Football are played by the Native Galicians and Bretons.

Scottish Shinty

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. The Shinty National League Division 1 was the Second Level of Men’s Shinty from 2004 to 2007. Incuded here is Cornish Hurling and Manx Cammag. See also International Rules:

Welsh Baseball

Welsh Baseball is a version of Rounders played primarily in South Wales, and also in Liverpool, where it is known as English Baseball. It is like a cross between Baseball, Rounders and Cricket. During the latter half of the 19th Century, the famous A.G. Spalding of Major League Baseball fame organised a Baseball Tour of England and Ireland, and in the process played a number of games against English and Welsh Rounders teams, who adopted some of the rules (such as tagging a playerout with the ball and two-handed batting). It kept the poles rather than flat bases and left the diamond in an irregular shape with all four sides unequal in length. Welsh Baseball also has a bat more like a Cricket Bat than a Baseball Bat, and it tapers towards the handle. According to sources in referenced in the articles below, Irish immigrants to Liverpool and South Wales were numerous among the Working Classes playing the game in the 20th Century. It is still played in South Wales and Liverpool but is now mostly a Children’s and Teenagers Game.

Manx Cammag

Manx Cammag is a version of Hurling (or Caman in Irish) played in the Isle of Man, where Manx Gaelic was traditionally spoken. It is also very similar to the Scottish game of Shinty or Camanachd. The earliest mention of Hurling or Caman is in the Irish ‘Book of Leinster’ in the 12th Century AD. It played with a small ball and hooked stick. Kit Gawne, writing in his book, ‘Isle of Man Hockey’ suggests the game may have been introduced by missionaries, although the earliest mention in the Isle of Man records is not until 1760. [References: 2-3]

It is a Winter Sport, with special matches arranged on St. Stephen’s Day (such as the one between North & South of the Island. There are few rules, and any number of players can play on either side, with coats or sticks marking goalposts. The ball is known as the “Crick” [References: 2-3]

The match on St. Stephen’s Day between North & South is played in conjunction with the Festivities associated with the day, such as ‘Hunting the Wren’, although these days no wren is killed, and those making donations to charity are given a coloured ribbon, rather than a wren’s feather, supposed to bring good luck for the following year, thought to be particularly efficacious in the event of a shipwreck or witchcraft. [References: MC-1 to MC-3]

References

[MC-1] North American Manx Association, Valerie Caine (2013) Cammag [Internet] Available from: https://namanx.org/cammag [Accessed 10 July 2022]

[MC-2] North American Manx Association (2015) “Rain doesn’t stop play on St. Stephen’s Day” [Internat] Available from: http://namanx.org/rain-doesnt-stop-play-on-st-stephens-day-2 [Accessed 5 March 2017]

[MC-3] isleofman.com (2017) “Work off your Christmas Turkey with a game of Cammag!” [Internet] Available from: https://www.isleofman.com/lifestyle/health-sports/cammag/ [Accessed 13 October 2017]

Cornish Hurling

Every Shrove Tuesday in St. Columb’s, Cornwall, the game of Hurling is played between ‘Town’ and ‘Country’. The night before resembles a ghost town as all the shops are boarded up and shuttered before the game is played the next day. There are no limits to the numbers of players in the game, with each player playing for either the ‘Town’ or ‘Country’. The game kicks off with the words “Town and Country do your best. but in this parish I must rest.” [References: CH-1 to CH-2]

Traditionally, the game was played between the men of St. Columb, but is now played by the children. [3] The Game can last a few minutes or it can last hours depending on how quickly the winning team can get the ball to the goal. The winning player who carries the ball to the goal has the option of keeping the ball and paying for a new one by a local craftsman. The ball is constructed traditionally, out of silver with an applewood core, taken from a local orchard. [References: CH-1 to CH-2]

References

[CH-1] BBC Cornwall (2003) Hurling at St. columb in the 21st Century [Internet] Available from; http://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/villages/stories/stcolumb_hurling.shtml [Accessed 7 March 2018]

[CH-2] St. Ives Web Community TV (2013) The St. Ives Feast and the Silver Ball [Internet] Available from: https://web.archive.org/web/20130819100810/http://stivestv.co.uk/whatson/feast_day_2013.htm [Accessed 13 June 2019]

Galicia GAA

Within Europe GAA, there are two Countries / Regions where the Gaelic Football is played entirely by Natives in small towns and villages like in Ireland: Brittany (NW France) and Galicia (NW Iberia – Spain/Portugal). These two Celtic Countries both have Men’s and Women’s Leagues played on a weekly basis, rather than in tournaments like in the other World Games Counties.

Brittany GAA

Within Europe GAA, there are two Countries / Regions where the Gaelic Football is played entirely by Native Bretons in small towns and villages like in Ireland: Brittany (NW France) and Galicia (NW Iberia – Spain/Portugal). These two Celtic Countries both have Men’s and Women’s Leagues played on a weekly basis, rather than in tournaments like in the other World Games Counties.