Sir, – Ger Mulvey (Letters, August 13th) has waggishly contributed to the “hurl or hurley” discourse by suggesting that among the counties he has resided in, it is in Co Kerry where perhaps the natives would refer to it as not either but rather “What’s that yoke?”.
The record breaking commentating career of the sage and oracle-like Kerry native Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh began with a hurling match 70 years ago. In that match was a player named Tadhg Hurley who had gone to school in Mícheál’s home parish of Dingle.
Given that this great Kerryman has been around the GAA for such an immense amount of time and has probably forgotten more than the average GAA enthusiast will ever know, his word and words carry a lot of influence relating to the games and richly deserve the utmost veneration.
This being the case, when he was commentating on a Tipperary v Galway hurling match and reported that, “Pat Fox has it on his hurl and is motoring well now. But here comes Joe Rabbitte hot on his tail. I’ve seen it all now! A rabbit chasing a fox”, I think that this utterly overwhelms Mr Mulvey’s fanciful notion about the knowledge, or lack of knowledge, of the ancient game down there in the kingdom.
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If Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh calls it a hurl, then it’s a hurl!- Yours,etc,
MICHAEL REDMOND,
Clongriffin,
Dublin 13.
Sir, – I thought I would add to the confusion with the following . . . In the 1932 Tailteann Games the victorious Dublin Senior Hurling Team defeated Scotland.
The Dublin side were playing hurling with a hurley while the Scots were playing Shinty with a stick.
That must have been an interesting game! – Yours, etc,
URSULA HOUGH-
GORMLEY,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – A friend, who taught in Donegal many years ago told me that the stick was known there as a hurley “bat”! – Yours, etc,
FERGUS FLEMING,
Dublin 3.