Great stuff from the Examiner today as they reveal more about the history of hurling in Australia, a story which pre-dates the meeting in Hayes Hotel in the 1880s.
Historian Dr. Pat Bracken has uncovered a set of hurling rules from the Lauriston Hurling Club which were adopted by the Victorian hurling association in 1878. Hurling clubs existed in Melbourne, Kyneton, Collingwood, Brighton, Prahran, and Richmond.
Bracken was supplied with the documents by an Australian named Terry O'Connor, who was researching his family history.
The Lauriston rules of 1878 detail aspects of the game from the provision of umpires, the number of players, goals and side posts and even the act of chopping down on an opponents hurley. These all point to a game, in my opinion, which had structure and codification prior to the emigration of these men from Ireland.
Bracken says the discovery supports his view that the game existed in rural Munster in the late 1870s.
Hurling is often described as an ancient game but the view of many was that it was simply a disorganised free-for-all before the founders of the GAA arrived in 1884. Others have contended it was largely extinct before the 1880s. However, these incredible documents reveal otherwise.
Read more about it here.
