Irish Road Bowling
Encyclopedia
Irish road bowling is an ancient sport. It is centered in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 - primarily in County Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...

 and County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...

. However, it also has players in Boston, Massachusetts; Cambridge, New York
Cambridge, New York
Cambridge, New York, may refer to either:* Cambridge , New York, the Town of Cambridge located in Washington County, New York* Cambridge , New York, the Village of Cambridge located within the Town of Cambridge, New York....

, and Bennington, Vermont, vicinity; Traverse City, Michigan
Traverse City, Michigan
Traverse City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population was 14,674 at the 2010 census, with 143,372 in the Traverse...

; the Bronx, New York; New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

; Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The City is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center , which is the world's largest active...

; and is growing in the fairs and festivals of the state of West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

. The first contest in Colborne, Canada was held on May 26, 2007.

Road bowling in Ireland is governed by the voluntary Irish Road Bowling Association (or Ból Chumann na hÉireann in Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...

).

The basic premise is similar to golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

. Participants, usually single opponents, throw a 800 gram (28 ounce) bowl or "bullet" along a country road course, up to 4 km long, and the fewest throws to traverse the distance wins the contest.

Participants in or from Ireland traditionally bet during the contest. Those who have bet on a player will follow that player around the course, giving advice.

A history of the game has been written by Irish academic Dr Fintan Lane. Titled Long Bullets: A History of Road Bowling in Ireland (Cork: Galley Head Press, 2005), his book traces the sport to the 17th century and suggests that it was once far more widespread than it is today. Until the 19th century, the game was also played in Scotland, the north of England and in North America.

Rules and playing style

A 28-ounce iron and steel cannonball
Round shot
Round shot is a solid projectile without explosive charge, fired from a cannon. As the name implies, round shot is spherical; its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the gun it is fired from.Round shot was made in early times from dressed stone, but by the 17th century, from iron...

 the size of a tennis ball
Tennis ball
A tennis ball is a ball designed for the sport of tennis,approximately 6.7 cm in diameter. Tennis balls are generally bright green, but in recreational play can be virtually any color. Tennis balls are covered in a fibrous fluffy felt which modifies their aerodynamic properties...

 (a "bowl" or "bullet") is hurled down a country lane. The player or team with the fewest shots to the finish line wins.

A road shower advises the thrower about the throw (or shot) much like a caddy, whilst another helper stands ahead of the thrower, feet apart, to show the best line or path in the road.

The thrower runs to the throwing mark and, in the Northern or County Armagh style, extends the arm and bowl behind him as he runs. At the throwing mark the arm is snapped forward by arching the back and shoulders, releasing the bowl underhand before stepping over the mark.

In the Southern or County Cork style, as the thrower runs to the mark the arm and bowl are lifted up and back, then whirled downward into an underhand throw, releasing the bowl before stepping over the mark.

Wherever the bowl stops (not where it leaves the road surface), a chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....

 mark is made at the nearest point on the road and the next throw is taken from behind that mark.

Over tight curves, or corners where two roads meet, the bowl may be thrown through the air (lofted). The loft must strike the road or pass over it. If the loft fails to reach the road, it counts as one shot, and the next throw must be taken again from the same mark.

If two players or teams approach the finish line with equal shots, the winner is decided by which throw goes farther past the finish line.

Terminology

Game terminology (as used primarily in Ireland) includes:
  • A score — a match. (In the past, players were given 20 shots each, the winner determined by who went the greatest distance.)
  • A shot — a throw.
  • Bowl of odds — when one bowler is one full shot fewer than his opponent, i.e., when a bowler is equal to or farther in distance than his opponent, but has thrown one less shot.
  • Bowl or bullet — the 800 g (28 oz) small cannonball, with a circumference of 18 cm, used in Irish Road Bowling.
  • Bullets or long bullets — the County Armagh term for road bowling.
  • Butt — the throwing mark on the road. To step over the mark before releasing the bowl is to "break butt."
  • Clear the road — to get spectators out of the road in front of the thrower. Also "Fág a' bealach."
  • Corner — a sharp curve in the road or a corner where two roads meet.
  • Fág a' bealach! (anglicizated Faugh a ballagh
    Faugh A Ballagh
    Faugh a Ballagh is a battle cry of Irish origin, meaning "clear the way". The spelling is an 18th-century anglicization of the Irish language phrase Fág an Bealach, also written Fág a' Bealach. Its first recorded use as a regimental motto was by the Royal Irish Fusiliers in 1798...

    ) — clear the way. (Also a traditional Irish battle cry.)
  • Get sight or open the corner — to throw so deeply into the curve that the next throw is a straight shot out.
  • Kitter-paw — a left-handed thrower.
  • Loft — to throw through the air.
  • Sop — a tuft of grass placed in the road at a spot where the bowl should first strike the surface. An experienced bowler can "Split the sop."
  • Stylish bowler — a bowler with a smooth well-coordinated delivery.

Notable bowlers

  • Travis Craig of Lewis County, West Virginia
    Lewis County, West Virginia
    As of the census of 2000, there were 16,919 people, 6,946 households, and 4,806 families residing in the county. The population density was 44 people per square mile . There were 7,944 housing units at an average density of 21 per square mile...

    , is the current North American Road Bowling Champion.
  • Mick Barry (born 1919) of County Cork
    County Cork
    County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...

     was All-Ireland Champion on eight separate occasions between 1965 and 1975.
  • 'Red' Joe McVeigh (1925–1990) of Armagh renown won several All-Ireland titles in the 1950s. He famously broke the record for the famous Knappaph course just outside Armagh, completing it in 22 shots. The record still stands today, and a commemorative headstone is placed at the roadside to acknowledge the feat.
  • 'J. Cuerv' Jose Diaz
    Jose Diaz
    Jose Diaz may refer to:*José Díaz , Spanish politician*Jose "Pepi" Diaz, American attorney and The Apprentice contestant*Joselo Díaz, Major League Baseball player*Jose Diaz-Balart, American journalist...

    , of Colorado Springs, Colorado
    Colorado Springs, Colorado
    Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...

     won several Southern California titles in the mid 2000's. He is known for perfecting the "sprinkler" move that made it possible to elevate the bullet through the air in an unconventional manner.


"big tim" Tim Kelleher annagannihy ballinagree born 1939 peoples champion

See also

  • Carved Stone Balls
    Carved Stone Balls
    Carved Stone Balls are petrospheres, usually round and rarely oval. They have from 3 to 160 protruding knobs on the surface. Their size is fairly uniform, they date from the late Neolithic to possibly the Iron Age and are mainly found in Scotland...

     - a possible historical link with Irish Road Bowling.
  • Klootschieten
    Klootschieten
    Klootschieten is a sport in the Netherlands and East Frisia, Germany. In the game, participants try to throw a ball as far as they can...

    - a similar sport played in the far eastern parts of the Netherlands, and in northern Germany.

External links

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