Gaelic Games

British viewers react to hurling final being broadcast on BBC for first time

Calls for more coverage next year as hurling builds a new fanbase in the UK

Clare's Diarmuid Ryan and Seamus Harnedy of Cork. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho
Clare's Diarmuid Ryan and Seamus Harnedy of Cork. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho
Cian O'Connell
Mon Jul 22 2024 - 15:52

Hurling’s biggest showpiece was broadcast on BBC 2 for the first time on Sunday, bringing the sport to thousands of new, widening eyes in the UK.

Cork and Clare produced one of the great finals – 90 minutes of frenzied, high-octane drama, at the end of which the sides could only be separated by a point. Ultimately, a Tony Kelly-inspired Clare won out, 3-29 to 1-24, after extra time.

A drab game of hurling may well seem spectacular to anyone who has never seen the sport, but reactions on X, formerly known as Twitter, befitted the quality of the spectacle that unfolded.

“BBC 2 is showing hurling and I don’t think I’ve ever been so invested in a game I know nothing about,” said Dan, an X user from Wales.

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Another tweet used a host of other sports, perhaps more familiar to British viewers, to paint a picture of the game.

“Hurling appears to be a mix of UFC, rugby, hockey, football, baseball, the egg and spoon race all whilst hitting a snooker ball as hard as you can as high into the sky as possible towards goal with what looks like the bones of a tomahawk steak. 10/10. Would recommend.”

Mike Ryan, an artistic director at the Briery Gap Cultural Centre in Cork, went local for his explanation of the sport. “Any British people wondering what the story is with Hurling on BBC 2, just imagine two teams of Roy Keane, but they all have a large weapon in their hands.”

Many drew attention to the blending of allegiances in the stands. Soccer fans in the UK are used to stadiums being divided into home and away sections of support, but Croke Park draws no such lines of separation.

BBC’s coverage featured Irish comedians Dara Ó Briain and David O’Doherty, Derry Girls’ Siobhán MacSweeney and Antrim actor James Nesbitt, who said he came to his first hurling match two years ago.

“I’ve been to the San Siro, I’ve been to the Nou Camp, obviously I’ve been to Old Trafford – but the atmosphere [here] is incredible,” Nesbitt said. “Everyone is integrated but there’s fierce competition.”

Fittingly, given the scope of the international reaction to the match, GAA president Jarlath Burns delivered a unifying speech after the final whistle. It was a powerful statement of support for migrants, particularly pointed after days of unrest in Coolock.

“For those people who are our diaspora, who left this country because of war and famine… We thank the countries who took you in and gave you jobs and allowed you to make a new name for yourselves with our native games.”