Making Hurleys in Castlegar, Co. Galway, Ireland 1982

Joe Connolly from Castlegar, Co. Galway is a Champion hurler, Gaeilgeoir and hurley maker & who takes reporter Breandán Ó hEithir through the hurley making process.
The starting point of every hurley’s journey is the raw wood, ash, which is carefully selected, and carved into planks. These are then placed in a special machine where they are planed down before being finished by hand. The entire process takes time and skill before the finished product emerges,
Tá sé cineál céim ar chéim, like, agus tagann an cruth an chamán air.
This episode of ‘Féach’ was broadcast on 7 May 1982. The reporter is Breandán Ó hEithir

[@jamesbradshaw3389]

Those hurleys were made by rock stars, two fine looking young men and a machine. When my brothers and I were young kids we made own Hurley sticks using saws, chisels and sharp kitchen knives borrowed from our dear Mothers kitchen, they did not have the beauty looks of a shop bought hurley but they were just as good, they were hand made by us young humans, they were given that special touch and they wone many battles and games We still have a few of our Hurley sticks hanging up on the walls

[@brianquigley1940]

👍👍👍

[@fiddlejohn9305]

Are all hurleys still made in Ireland from lrish-grown timber, or like so many other things are they made in China with tropical woods?
Another thing, I noticed - no ear protection. My dad was in WWII and the Cold War in the US Navy, doing things that required wearing over-the-ear headphones. When he returned home to work at the sawmill he decided to continue to protect his ears. He took some ribbing for that, but at age 95 he could still hear a sparrow fart in the next county over!

[@rutgersplague4595]

Hurley's are made of Irish ash traditionally, but most of it suffers from die back now, there was plastic Hurley's but never became widespread as they are an abomination

[@fiddlejohn9305]

@@rutgersplague4595 thanks for the answer!
Did anyone ever make a Hurley of bog oak? Might not be so good for hurling, too heavy, but would look nice and could do some serious damage to a house robber.

[@snipper1ie]

@@fiddlejohn9305 Ypu want the wooden spoon for that task

[@fiddlejohn9305]

@@snipper1ie my grandmother had one of those, beware!

[@TheLastAngryMan01]

Most of the ash for hurleys is imported from Slovakia, Hungary or Romania. A lot of sliotars are made in India or Pakistan.
With ash dieback increasingly killing Europe’s stocks of ash trees, bamboo is increasingly being used in Hurley making, believe it or not.

[@MilesianPaul]

Gaeilgeoir not Gaeilgeoirí which is plural

[@jamesbradshaw3389]

NO only IRISH for you so you have to put in the effort and learn come on stop being lazy, start now and in eighteen time you should be able to understand and speak the language

[@snipper1ie]

@@jamesbradshaw3389 Every Irish child goes through fourteen years of Irish language education. The longest conversation they will ever have in Irish, is with their oral Irish examiner.

[@pascalennis9123]

The hurl is a stupid shape nowadays

[@declanmurphy6427]

Health and Safety 1982😂😅😊😅😂

[@jamesc37]

Wtf?