With the first bowl cast, is Ireland's ancient game ready for Unesco stamp?

Ireland currently has five parts of its culture listed: Uilleann piping, hurling, Irish harping, falconry and dry stone construction

FLYING HIGH: Road bowling legend Kelly Mallon in action.

For the past week traditional and social media have been buzzing with talk about Irish Road Bowling’s potential for being added to the Unesco Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

This idea was publicly floated at the recent opening ceremony of the All-Ireland bowling series at Ballinagree, but it was a parliamentary question by Cork-based TD John Paul O’Shea that brought it to national attention.