Long Bullets
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Long Bullets Cover 10/26/05 2:33 PM Page 1 Come on boys and have a day LONG BULLETS with our bowling club so gay, Road bowling is a sport very much associated with County The loft of the bowl it would Cork; one of its great make your heart thrill, exponents, Tim Delaney, is immortalised in the famous When you hear the Shea boy say – Cork anthem, ‘The Boys of Fairhill’. Part of the social ‘ texture of Cork, it is A HISTORY OF ROAD BOWLING IN IRELAND A HISTORY Timmy Delaney undoubtedly an important has won the day,’ element of local culture in many parts of the city and county. We beat them all, says the boys of The game, however, does not Fintan Lane was born in Cork belong to Cork alone; it is also city in 1967 and graduated popular in County Armagh, and with a PhD in history from Fairhill in pockets of Counties Mayo, University College, Cork in Tyrone, Louth, Waterford and 1995. Currently residing in Wexford. Dublin, he has lived at various times in San Francisco, Belfast Road bowling is a sport widely and Germany. thought of as peculiar to Joint-editor since 2001 of Ireland, but this has not always Saothar, the journal of Irish been the case. This book labour history, his publications uncovers the rich history of include The Origins of Modern road bowling in Ireland, tracing Irish Socialism, 1881–1896 its roots back hundreds of (Cork University Press, Cork, years, and reveals a sport – 1997) and In Search of Thomas originally known as ‘long Sheahan: Radical Politics in bullets’ – that was once Cork, 1824–1836 (Irish LONG widespread in Ireland, Scotland, Academic Press, Dublin, 2001). the north of England and North He is also co-editor, with Donal America. Ó Drisceoil, of Politics and the Irish Working Class, 1830–1945 LANE FINTAN BULLETS (Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2005). Front cover: Eamonn O’Carroll (Ballygarvan, Co. Cork) A HISTORY OF bowls at the Munster Championship, Dublin Hill, Cork, 12 July 1936 (Irish Examiner). LONG Back cover: detail from Bowling match at Castlemary, ROAD BOWLING Cloyne, 1847, by Daniel MacDonald (Crawford Art BULLETS Gallery, Cork). A HISTORY OF Cover design: Dominic Carroll. ROAD BOWLING IN IRELAND IN IRELAND FINTAN LANE FINTAN LANE Long Bullets 10/26/05 1:40 PM Page i Long Bullets Fintan Lane was born in Cork city in 1967 and graduated with a PhD in history from University College, Cork in 1995. Currently residing in Dublin, he has lived at various times in San Francisco, Belfast and Germany. Joint- editor since 2001 of Saothar, the journal of Irish labour history, his publications include The Origins of Modern Irish Socialism, 1881–1896 (Cork University Press, Cork, 1997) and In Search of Thomas Sheahan: Radical Politics in Cork, 1824–1836 (Irish Academic Press, Dublin, 2001). He is also co-editor, with Donal Ó Drisceoil, of Politics and the Irish Working Class, 1830–1945 (Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2005). Long Bullets 10/26/05 1:40 PM Page iii Long Bullets A History of Road Bowling in Ireland Fintan Lane Long Bullets 10/26/05 1:40 PM Page iv First published in 2005 by Galley Head Press, Ardfield, Co. Cork © Fintan Lane All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. ISBN: 0 9542159 4 X Typesetting: Dominic Carroll, Co. Cork Printing: ColourBooks, Dublin Long Bullets 10/26/05 1:40 PM Page v CONTENTS Map of Ireland vi Acknowledgements vii Introduction 1 1. Origins and early history c.1700–1899 9 2. Southern bowling, c.1780–1899 20 3. Transitions, 1900–1932 30 4. Out of the shadows, 1932–1953 45 5. Emergence of Ból Chumann na hÉireann, 1954–1963 62 6. Crossing borders, 1963–1984 78 7. Continuity and change, 1985–2004 102 Conclusion 126 Appendix 1: Glossary of terms used in road bowling 128 Appendix 2: ‘Bowling’ (1887) by ‘An Old Bowler’ 130 Appendix 3: ‘Rules of Play’ (1955) 133 Bibliography 135 Notes & References 138 Index 148 v Long Bullets 10/26/05 1:40 PM Page vi MAP OF IRELAND vi Long Bullets 10/26/05 1:40 PM Page vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The history of sport in Ireland is an area that has received increasing attention from historians in recent years, yet still remains substantially under-researched. Road bowling – very much a minority sport – has scarcely been noticed and, hence, this present study is the first concert- ed effort to deal with its origins, development and codification in mod- ern Ireland. This is also the first detailed history of Ból Chumann na hÉireann, the organisation that has overseen the game since 1954. Like all books, it has benefited significantly from the assistance and enthu- siasm of a great many people, who aided the project as it developed. I wish to acknowledge the help and professionalism of the staffs of the National Archives of Ireland, the National Library of Ireland, the Boole Library at University College Cork, Cork City Library, Cork County Library and the library of the Irish Examiner. In addition, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the following individu- als (listed in alphabetical order), who generously helped in various ways: James Caverly, S.J. Connolly, Jarlath Devlin, Susan Greene, Jim Lane, Noel Magnier, Pat Maloney, Des O’Driscoll, James O’Driscoll, Colman O’Mahony, Margaret O’Regan (Ballineen), Séamus Ó Tuama and Christy Santry. More particularly, I would like to thank Denis McGarry of White- church, County Cork, for allowing me to use images from his wonderful and extensive collection of photographs. I also thank the Irish Examiner for kindly permitting the publication of a number of important bowling photographs from the 1930s, which I came across in their photographic archive. Dominic Carroll designed this book (and brought it through to production) and his support, empathy, skill and professionalism are very much appreciated. The research and writing of Long Bullets was greatly facilitated by funding from Ból Chumann na hÉireann (the bowling association of Ireland) and I would like, above all, to express my gratitude to that body for its assistance. I hope that the officers, members and supporters of Ból Chumann enjoy the product of that research, and find something worthwhile in these pages. Finally, I wish to thank Deirdre Clancy for her patience, which was much tested by my recurrent ruminations on the game of road bowling and its history. I suspect she will be delighted to finally see this volume in print and off the living-room floor. F.L. Dublin October 2005 vii Long Bullets 10/26/05 1:40 PM Page viii Long Bullets 10/26/05 1:40 PM Page 1 INTRODUCTION otorists moving through the Irish countryside, particularly on a Sunday, occasionally come across crowds of people on quiet Mback-roads engaged with a game of road bowling, hundreds of spectators leisurely walking the road in unison with the competing bowlers, as their throws bring them further along the course. My own earliest memories of the game are from family drives in west Cork in the 1970s, stalled as we inadvertently arrived at the rear of such a gather- ing. For the many people who are unaccustomed to these scenes (it is, after all, a game played in only a handful of Irish counties), it must appear an unusual and even archaic sport, a throwback to the days when roads were not monopolised by fast-moving traffic. In bowl playing localities, however, it is a traditional pastime, a component of local culture that has as much claim on the road as the cars, trucks and tractors that typically hold sway. Bowling matches – properly known as ‘scores’ – can be found in Coun- ties Limerick, Louth, Waterford, Wexford, Mayo and Tyrone, but the heartlands are Cork and Armagh, particularly the former where the game is widespread. Originally known as ‘long bullets’ or ‘long bowls’, it is a recreation that was popular in Britain, Ireland and North America in the eighteenth century, but now is extant only in parts of Ireland, where it has battled successfully against extinction. An almost identical game, however, exists on the Adriatic coast of Italy and its similarities with the Irish version lay open the possibility that it too is a surviving remnant of long bullets, though further research is required on its provenance. In Germany and the Netherlands, there are also forms of outdoor bowling, (facing page) Boys practise bowling in Co. Tipperary in the mid 1950s. This photograph was probably taken during an ‘exhibition’ in the area by Cork bowlers. 1 Long Bullets 10/26/05 1:40 PM Page 2 2 Long Bullets which, though different in significant ways, have points of commonality with the Irish game. THE GAME The overwhelming majority of scores are contests between two bowl players, but they can also involve three or four people, and sometimes more (these are known as ‘double-hand’ and ‘triple-hand’ games, and so on). Road bowling is not a team sport; rather, it is individual combat between sportsmen and women for pre-eminence and, more often than not, for a financial prize – the ‘stake’ – and, when part of a tournament or championship, for a trophy. Side-betting by spectators and supporters is common at most scores, though not permitted when children are bowling. The object of the game, simply put, is to cover the course – invariably a country road – with Denis O’Rourke of the least number of throws of a 28oz iron bowl Rylane, Co.