Camogie

Camogie (/kɑːmɔːɡiː/; Irish: camógaíocht; formerly spelled camoguidheacht) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women; it is almost identical to the game of hurling played by men. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities.^[1][2] It is organised by the Dublin-based Camogie Association or An Cumann Camógaíochta.

The game

The game consists of two 30 minute halves.Matches are contested by two teams of 15 a side, using a field 130m to 145m long and 80m to 90m wide. H-shape goals are used, a goal (scored when the ball goes between the posts and under the bar) is equal to three points and a point (scored when the ball goes over the bar) is equal to one point.^[3]

Profile of camogie

The annual All Ireland Camogie Championship has a record attendance of 33,154^[4] while average attendances in recent years are in the region of 15,000 to 18,000. The final is televised live, with a TV audience of over 300,000 being claimed.^[5]

Rules

The rules are almost identical to hurling, with a few exceptions.^[6]

• Goalkeepers wear the same colours as outfield players. This is because no special rules apply to the goalkeeper and so there is no need for officials to differentiate between goalkeeper and outfielders.
• A camogie player can handpass a score (forbidden in hurling since 1980)
• Camogie games last 60 minutes, two 30-minute halves (senior inter-county hurling games last 70, which is two 35-minute halves). Ties are resolved by multiple 2×10-minute sudden death extra time periods; in these, the first team to score wins.
• Dropping the camogie stick to handpass the ball is permitted.
• A smaller sliotar (ball) is used in camogie – commonly known as a size 4 sliotar – whereas hurlers play with a size 5 sliotar.
• If a defending player hits the sliotar wide, a 45-metre puck is awarded to the opposition (in hurling, it is a 65-metre puck)
• After a score, the goalkeeper pucks out from the 13-metre line. (in hurling, he must puck from the end line)
• The metal band on the camogie stick must be covered with tape. (not necessary in hurling)
• Side-to-side charges are forbidden. (permitted in hurling)
• Two points are awarded for a score direct from a sideline cut (since March 2012).^[7]

Camogie players must wear skirts or skorts rather than shorts.

Foundation

Experimental rules were drawn up in 1903 for a female stick-and-ball game by Máire Ní Chinnéide, Seán (Sceilg) Ó Ceallaigh, Tadhg Ó Donnchadha and Séamus Ó Braonáin. The Official Launch of Camogie took place with the first public match between Craobh an Chéitinnigh (Keatings branch of the Gaelic League) and Cúchulainns on 17 July at a Feis in Navan. The sport's governing body, the Camogie Association or An Cumann Camógaíochta was founded in 1905 and re-constituted in 1911, 1923 and 1939. Until June 2010 it was known as Cumann Camógaíochta na nGael.

Máire Ní Chinnéide and Cáit Ní Dhonnchadha, two prominent Irish-language enthusiasts and cultural nationalists, were credited with having created the sport, with the assistance of Ní Dhonnchadha's scholarly brother Tadhg Ó Donnchadha, who drew up its rules. Thus, although camogie was founded by women, and independently run (although closely linked to the GAA), there was, from the outset, a small yet powerful male presence within its administrative ranks. It was no surprise that camogie emanated from the Gaelic League, nor that it would be dependent upon the structures and networks provided by that organisation during the initial expansion of the sport. Of all the cultural nationalist organisations for adults that emerged during the fin de siècle, the Gaelic League was the only one to accept female and male members on an equal footing.^[8]

A camogie team pictured in Waterford in October 1915

Historic rules

Under Séamus Ó Braonáin's original 1903 camogie rules both the match and the field were shorter than their hurling equivalents. Matches were 40 minutes, increased to 50 minutes in 1934, and playing fields 125–130 yards (114-119m) long and 65–70 yards (59-64m) wide. From 1929 until 1979 a second crossbar, a "points bar" was also used, meaning that a point would not be allowed if it travelled over this bar, a somewhat contentious rule through the 75 years it was in use. Teams were regulated at 12 a side, using an elliptical formation (1–3–3–3–1) although it was more a "squeezed lemon" formation with the three midfield players grouped more closely together than their counterpart on the half back and half-forward lines. In 1999 camogie moved to the GAA field-size and 15-a-side, adopting the standard GAA butterfly formation (3–3–2–3–3).

Nomenclature

The name was invented by Tadhg Ua Donnchadha (Tórna) at meetings in 1903 in advance of the first matches in 1904. ^[9] Men play using a curved stick called in Irish a camán. Women would use a shorter stick, at one stage described by the diminutive form camóg. The suffix -aíocht (originally "uidheacht") was added to both words to give names for the sports: camánaíocht (which became iománaíocht) and camógaíocht. When the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded in 1884 the English-origin name "hurling" was given to the men's game. When an organisation for women was set up in 1904, it was decided to anglicise the Irish name camógaíocht to camogie.^[1]

Literary references

A reference to camogie features in one of Lucky's speeches in Waiting for Godot by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett.

Structure

An Cumann Camógaíochta has a similar structure to the Gaelic Athletic Association, with an Annual Congress every spring which decides on policy and major issues such as rule changes, and an executive council, the Árd Chómhairle which deals with short-term issues and governance. The game is administered from a headquarters in Croke Park in Dublin. Each of 28 county boards takes control of its own affairs (all of the Irish counties except Fermanagh, Leitrim and Sligo), with the number of clubs ranging from 58 in Cork to one in Leitrim. There are four provincial councils and affiliates in Asia, Australia, Britain, Europe, New York, New Zealand and North America.

Camogie clubs

There are 537 camogie clubs, of which 513 (95.5pc) are based on the island of Ireland, 47 in Connacht (8.8pc), 195 in Leinster (36.4pc), 160 in Munster (29.8pc), and 110 in Ulster (20.5pc).

Competitions

All Ireland Championship

The county is the unit of structure in elite competition, responsible for organising club competitions within the county unit and for fielding inter-county teams in the various grades of the All Ireland championships and National Camogie League.

• Ten counties will compete for the elite All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship in 2015 for which the O'Duffy Cup is awarded: Clare, Cork, Derry, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, Offaly, Tipperary and Wexford. The All-Ireland Final is held every year in Croke Park during September, usually on the week between the hurling final and Gaelic football final, and attracts attendances of up to 33,154.^[4] The champions for 2014 are Cork.
• The All Ireland Club Championship is staged at Senior, Intermediate and Junior level, usually reaching the final stages in November–December or the following March.
• Ten teams will contest the second-tier Jack McGrath Cup in 2015 (All Ireland intermediate championship): Antrim, Down, Kildare, Meath, Waterford and the second teams of Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, Tipperary, and Wexford.
• Five teams contested the third-tier Kay Mills Cup (All Ireland junior or 'Premier Junior" championship) in 2014 Armagh, Down, Laois, Roscommon, and the second team of Dublin.
• Six teams contest the fourth-tier Nancy Murray Cup (or Junior A championship), Carlow, Cavan, Monaghan, Tyrone, Westmeath, and the second team of Offaly.
• Three teams contest the fifth-tier Máire Ní Chinnéide Cup, (or Junior B championship), Wicklow,and the second teams of Kildare and Meath.
• London competed in the ((National Camogie League)) in The 2010 season although not in 2011.
• Although eight counties do not compete at adult level: Donegal, Fermanagh, Kerry, Leitrim, Longford, Louth, Mayo and Sligo do not compete at adult level, clubs from Fermanagh, Kerry and Mayo have won honours and Donegal have contested divisional finals at under-14 Feile na nGael level. Both Louth (in 1934 and 1936) and Mayo (in 1959) have contested the All Ireland senior final in the past.
• There are age-graded All Ireland championships at Minor A, Minor B, and Minor C, and Under-16 A, B and C level.

National League

The National League is staged during the winter-spring months, with four divisions of team graded by ability.

Provincial championships

Provincial championships take place at all levels, independent of the All Ireland series which has been run on an open draw basis since 1973.

International and inter-provincial

Ireland plays a camogie-shinty international against Scotland each year. The Gael Linn Cup is an inter-provincial competition played at senior and junior level. The sport is closely associated with the Celtic Congress. Two former Camogie Association presidents Máire Ní Chinnéide and Agnes O'Farrelly were also presidents of Celtic Congress and exhibition matches have been held at the Celtic Congress since 1938. The first such exhibition match, on the Isle of Man in 1938, marked the first appearance of Kathleen Cody, who became one of the stars of the 1940s.

Inter-collegiate

The Ashbourne and Purcell Cups and Father Meachair seven-a-side are the principal inter-collegiate competitions.

Schools

There is also a programme of provincial and All Ireland championships at secondary schools senior and junior levels, differentiated by the years of secondary school cycle, with years 4–6 competing in the senior competition, and years 1–3 competing at junior level. Cumann na mBunscoil organises competitions at primary school level.

Féile na nGael

Camogie competitions for club teams featuring under-14 players are played in four divisions as part of the annual Féile na nGael festival. The county that is selected for a particular year, all their clubs host teams from all around the country representing their county. Host clubs get families to take in two or three children for a couple of days.

Records

Dublin have won the most Camogie All-Ireland titles with 26, the last being in 1984. See All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship.

Cork have won the most National Camogie League titles with 14. See National Camogie League

Wexford having won three in a row from 2010 to 2012

Awards

Camogie All Stars Awards are awarded annually to the elite players who have performed best in each of the 15 positions on a traditional camogie team. Player of the year and other achievement awards have also been awarded to leading players for several decades.

Team of the Century

Picked in 2004^[10]

1. Eileen Duffy-O'Mahony (Dublin)
2. Liz Neary (Kilkenny)
3. Marie Costine-O'Donovan (Cork)
4. Mary Sinnott-Dinan (Wexford)
5. Bridie Martin-McGarry (Kilkenny)
6. Sandie Fitzgibbon (Cork)
7. Margaret O'Leary-Leacy (Wexford)
8. Mairéad McAtamney-Magill (Antrim)
9. Linda Mellerick (Cork)
10. Sophie Brack (Dublin)
11. Kathleen Mills-Hill (Dublin)
12. Joni Traynor (Kilkenny)
13. Úna O'Connor (Dublin)
14. Pat Moloney-Lenihan (Cork)
15. Deirdre Hughes (Tipperary)
16. Angela Downey-Browne (Kilkenny)

See also

• Women's shinty
• Camogie All Stars Awards
• Ashbourne Cup

References

External links

Look up camogie in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Camogie.ie Official Camogie Association Website