Hurling played Down Under in era before GAA founded

A hurling association was founded in Australia in the decade before the GAA was formed according to an Irish historian.

Dr Pat Bracken will deliver his findings at a sports history conference in Dublin on Saturday.

Dr Bracken has uncovered a set of hurling rules from the Lauriston Hurling Club, which were reportedly adopted in 1875, three years before the establishment of the Victorian Hurling Association to cater for clubs in Melbourne, Kyneton, Collingwood Brighton, Prahran, and Richmond.

Having completed his thesis on the growth and evolution of sport in Tipperary, 1840­1880, Dr Bracken believes hurling was widely played in the era before the GAA was founded and this evidence supports his belief.

Bracken said: “It is hugely significant that hurling emerged in Australia at that time, as it demonstrates that Irishmen were taking the game with them, when they emigrated.

He continued: “These rules confirm my belief hurling was still played in various parts of the country, even if the documentary evidence for it is slight.

“The foundation of a hurling association in Australia, in 1878 is significant in the history of the sport, predating, as it does, the GAA by six years.

Is there a possibility that what happened in Australia may have influenced Michael Cusack in the early 1880s when he switched his focus from athletics to hurling and onto the formation of the GAA in Hayes Hotel in 1884?”

Dr Bracken will be delivering a paper entitled “Hurling in Australia: the first forty years 1877­1917” at the Sports History Ireland conference at St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, Dublin on Saturday.

Registration is from 8:30am and admission is free.