20-07-2025
'Extension of a player's arm' - what makes a good hurley?
As over 82,000 fans gather in Croke Park for today's All-Ireland hurling final, it is worth remembering the game has its origins in medieval Ireland.
Hurleys were often adorned with silver and bronze as the sons of kings played one another.
So, what makes the perfect hurley.
"A good hurley is an extension of the player's arm, it's what does the damage in Croke Park," said Sean Torpey, Managing Director of Torpeys hurley makers in Sixmilebridge, Co Clare.
"We've been making hurleys for about 100 years, in the family," he said.
"With the traditional ash hurley, the colour is the first thing players notice, lovely white ash. You should have the grains running from the handle to the top of the hurley in a curved fashion.
"The timber should be between 25 and 30 years to make the ideal ash hurley. It is all about how the ash is distributed across the hurley.
"The first thing a player looks at is the handle and the flexibility and balance of the stick."
Michael Duignan is a two-time All-Ireland hurling winner with Offaly and GAA hurling analyst with RTÉ's The Sunday Game.
"In Offaly, we call them a hurl. It is very individual, but hurleys have got shorter over the years. The boss is bigger now and along with the lighter hurley it makes for faster and more exciting hurling.
"Some players like a lighter hurley, particularly forwards, because it is lighter. From a skill point of view the game has changed rapidly," he added.
Aidan O'Donnell is a Professor of Archaeology at University College Dublin and has explored the historical and archaeological origins of hurling.
"If you look at the hurley sticks Christy Ring was playing with in the 50s and 60s, it's completely different from the stick used by players today, particularly in the last 20-years," he said.
"The camán dates back over 1,000 years in Ireland. Some might have been decorated in silver and bronze as the sons of kings played one another," Mr O'Donnell said.
"There are reports of games being played on the Hill of Tara and Ring Forts in the 7th and 10th Century AD," Mr O'Donnell explained.
"There were five or six different types of hurleys at the time, some came out of hedge row, but in the 17th and 18th century the wide boss appearance and the sliotar was being balanced on the stick.
"The greatest change has come in the last half century. With television reports from the eighties, we see players using hurleys that were thirty-six inches in length, and there was a lot of swiping.
"The game today is all about running and the use of the handpass, but we have long distance scores too.
"The natural instinct of the players today, is to pick up the ball, and that had led to the development of the hurley used today.
