Bowling, like all other sports, must move with the times

In early January I received a hand-drawn map of the Drinagh bowling road in West Cork.

Just as sport defines a place, places also define a sport. Drinagh is defined by bowling and also defines it. What is quintessential of Drinagh is how it sees itself as a custodian of the history and values of road bowling.

The Drinagh bowling map is the creation of Tadhg McCarthy, a man acutely aware of the fragile flame his village keeps burning. The map details not only the points on the road but some key historical background. ‘Points’ are locations on a bowling road — important both while playing and later in recounting what happened.