Against the Grain

High on the north west coast of Inishowen, in the ruined church at Clonca near Culdaff, lies the 15th century gravestone of Magnus MacOrriston. MacOrriston was a Hebridean gallowglass and the intricate carvings on his gravestone include a claymore sword, a camán and a ball. The gravestone is of a type usually found on the islands of Iona and Islay and underlines the familial, linguistic and cultural links that existed between Gaelic Ulster and Gaelic Scotland until the start of the 17th century. The inscription is in Scots Gaelic and the stick looks similar to a modern shinty camán.

What’s an engraved camán doing in a graveyard on the north coast of Donegal where sliotars rarely stray? Little is known of the gallowglass MacOrriston, other than his surname is that of a locally important ecclesiastical family from the early 15th century. The inscription simply reads: ‘Fergus MacAllan made this stone; Magnus MacOrriston lies under it’. Although local legend held that the stone was brought to Inishowen as ballast in a ship, tests on its composition concluded that it is local in origin. Given his memorial, it is fair to assume that MacOrriston was renowned as much for his prowess with the stick and ball as he was for his sword.

Long before the foundation of the GAA in 1884 two distinct stick and ball games were played in Ireland. Kevin Whelan wrote an authoritative article on the subject, ‘The Geography of Hurling’, in History Ireland in 1993. In it, he describes the games of iomán and camán, which were played in the south and north respectively. Camán, anglicised as commons, is described as being akin to field hockey or shinty, a winter game played with a narrow stick and a wooden ball that could not be handled. Iomán was a summer game, played with a flat, round-headed stick and the ball could be handled. Art Ó Maolfabhail’s history of hurling asserts that camán persisted longest where the English influence in Ireland was weakest.

Both games were in decline during the 19th century but the decline of iomán was arrested by the formation of the GAA. As Whelan notes, “When Michael Cusack set about reviving the game, he codified a synthetic version, principally modelled on the southern iomán version that he had known as a child in Clare. Not surprisingly, this new game never caught on in the old ‘commons’ area with the Glens of Antrim being the only major exception.” The new rules sounded the death knell for camán. It survived in pockets of Ulster, and a version was played in Burt in Donegal until the 1930s, but it had long died out elsewhere by then. However, it has survived to this day as shinty in the north west of Scotland.

There are currently about 40 shinty clubs in Scotland. Shinty is played with a narrow hooked stick, handling the ball is forbidden and only goals may be scored. These aspects of shinty contain strong echoes of commons, as does its winter season. David MacMaster, chairman of the northern area committee of the Camanachd Association, shinty’s governing body, points out that 2004 was the first year of a two year experiment to move the shinty season from winter to summer. “The reaction to the move to summer shinty has been very mixed,” he feels. “Unfortunately, people’s perceptions are clouded because we had a terrible summer with heavy rain and a number of games were cancelled. If a vote were taken now, it would be voted down. However, it wouldn’t be right to do that as the move to a summer season is a two year pilot project.” [In October 2005 the Camanachd Association voted to permanently move shinty to a summer season.]

In the early 1970s the GAA and the Camanachd Association initiated an annual international series at senior level between shinty and hurling. This lapsed in 1979 but was reintroduced in 1993 and is hosted alternately between Ireland and Scotland. With neat historical symmetry, the Irish team that took the field this year included players from Down, Donegal, Monaghan, Fermanagh, Roscommon and other counties where camán was was the native stick game before the formation of the GAA.

Paudie Butler has managed the Ireland under-21s for the past four years and is an enthusiastic supporter of both the series and the decision to select players from hurling’s emerging counties. This year’s under-21 panel comprised 18 players from 15 different counties. “Selecting players from the emerging counties is the one tangible thing the GAA has done for hurling in those counties,” he emphasises. “It’s the only thing to have come out of all the reports. This is for them and they have responded to it brilliantly. They know there’s no hidden agenda and I hope it’s never taken off them.”

Butler feels hurling can gain much from participation in the series. “The Scots have a beautiful, elegant stroke off the ground. They can’t handle the ball and therefore have better feet than we do. There are things to be learned from this. There is a place in hurling for a competition where handling is forbidden. It’s a skill that we have to develop more.” John Mackenzie, president of the Camanachd Association, sees the benefits for shinty too. “The shinty-hurling fixture is an important factor in the long-term development of shinty. In terms of fitness and speed, the hurlers have a lot to teach us. The international dimension is a necessity at a time when the game is under increasing pressure from other sports with bigger development budgets.”

The most recent meeting of the two countries at senior and under-21 levels was staged last month [October 2004] at the superbly appointed Sean Eiffe Park in Ratoath, County Meath. Scotland dominated the exchanges in the 1990s, but the pendulum has swung decisively Ireland’s way in recent years. “Since senior manager Paudie O’Neill and me went in, we’ve tried to play more to our own strengths” Paudie Butler explains. “Prior to that, Ireland was trying to play ground hurling and, with their longer stick, Scotland had the advantage in that and Ireland wasn’t competitive. But since that time we’ve become more competitive and both matches were excellent.”

Niall Campbell, from the old camán stronghold of Burt in Donegal, made his international debut in the senior match this year and found the experience to be something of an eye opener. “The Scots aren’t afraid to swing the shinty stick anyway,” he says. “You have to get in close to them. Their stick is a lot longer than ours and you might think you’re away from them but then they hook you. They’re very hard to get away from so you just have to keep the ball moving.”

Comfortably leading in the under-21 game at half time, Ireland showed great resolve to withstand a spirited Scottish comeback and held on for a 3-5 to 3-2 win. In the senior game, Ireland were trailing by seven points going into injury time. While GAA followers are well used to referees playing for a draw, the concept seems alien to the Scots, who, it must be admitted, would not have been flattered by a seven point margin of victory. However, the referee played several minutes of extra time in which Ireland scored 2-1 to draw level – 3-10 to 4-7 the final score. The result did not go down well in the Scottish press. “Robbed of victory by the referee,” howled the Inverness Courier; “Robbed in Ratoath,” the opinion of the Oban Times.

This year also marked the first Ireland-Scotland international for women. Women’s shinty has only been formally organised for a couple of years and the heavy defeat they suffered at the hands of a camogie team drawn from the post-primary All-Star shows they have some way to go to become competitive at international level. The women’s match saw Ireland gain a facile 6-13 to 0-0 victory.

Both the GAA and the Camanachd Association are keen to see the series develop and plans are in train to put it on a more secure footing. The composite rules which have been modified and tweaked since the links were established, now allow the two games to gel well together. The crowd that attended the games in Ratoath, including a 200-strong travelling party of Scots, enjoyed a magnificent afternoon’s entertainment. Plans are already being laid for next year when Scotland’s ancient game will once again shed light onto hurling’s similarly ancient and all but forgotten past.

Published in HighBall magazine, November 2004.