Presentation: Camogie? Hurling for women!

Cork’s Jenny Duffy attempts to block Katrina Parrock of Wexford during the 2012 All-Ireland Camogie final.

Watch a game of Hurling, replace men by women, and it’s Camogie!

Contrary to Gaelic football, Hurling and Handball, Camogie is not organized by the GAA, but by the Camogie Association, who was founded in 1905. However, the Camogie Association has his headquarters in Croke Park in Dublin and is closely associated with the GAA. It’s all the same considered such as a Gaelic sport.

The game is the same of Hurling. Matches oppose two teams of 15-a-side since 1999. A goal –which is scored when the ball goes between the posts and under the bar– is equal to three points and a point –which is scored when the ball goes over the bar– is equal to one point.

The rules are almost identical to Hurling, with just a few exceptions: Camogie games last 60 minutes against 70 for Hurling, side-to-side charges are forbidden and the medal band on the camogie stick must be covered with tape.

Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide. There are 537 Camogie clubs of which 513 are based on the island of Ireland. There are four provincial councils and affiliates in Asia, Australia, Britain, Europe, New York, New Zealand and North America.

As Hurling, it exists an All-Ireland Championship, a National League, and Provincial Championships. The All-Ireland Final is almost held every year in Croke Park during September, on the weekend between the Hurling final and Gaelic football final, and attracts attendances of up to 33,154 (in 2007 between Wexford and Cork). The O’Duffy Cup is the prize presented to the winners. Since the first final in 1932, Dublin has won the most titles (26). This year, on September 16, Wexford defeated Cork (3-13 – 3-6) in front of 15,900.

Here is an extract of the 2007 All-Ireland Camogie between Derry and Clare at Croke Park :

Picture credit: RTE.ie