September Sports Month - Camogie Success and Silverware at UCG: Ashbourne Cup, 1916

Our September Sports Series continues with a piece ahead of yet another All-Ireland Final appearance this coming weekend. This occasion features the camogie players of Galway and their hope for All-Ireland glory in Croke Park when they face Cork.

The archives of NUI Galway shed light on the long tradition of camogie on campus. These extracts highlight some of the winning teams who brought silverware back to campus at UCG in the early 20^th Century.

Our September Sports Series continues with a piece ahead of yet another All-Ireland Final appearance this coming weekend. This occasion features the camogie players of Galway and their hope for All-Ireland glory in Croke Park when they face Cork.The archives of the Hardiman Library at NUI Galway shed light on the long tradition of camogie on campus.

These extracts highlight some of the winning teams who brought silverware back to campus in the early twentieth century   in the form of the Ashbourne Cup in 1916. The college annual recounts how:

"This year has been a phenomenal one in College athletics, for we have at last secured a cup through the agency of the lady students. The result, of course, was to be expected from the energy and enthusiasm with which we worked through the year under the able captaincy of Miss O'Dowd. The practices were regular, our able trainers Messrs. F. O'Doherty and P. Fahy, being of great assistance to us."

The victory was secured by Galway in a win over Dublin. "Friday was the day of the 'grand finale' . . . As on the previous day, there was no score on either side up to half-time. However, in the second half all anxiety on our side was removed when Miss Stella Cloherty scored a goal, thereby declaring Galway the winners of the cup!"

UCG Ashbourne Cup winners 1916

Camogie Notes 1916

Camogie Notes, 1920

UCG Camogie Team 1922-23

G.A.A. - From Founding Father to International Tournament: Hurling in the West

All-Ireland Final season in both codes is in full swing at the moment and while our neighbours in the West, Mayo and Clare await to face off against Dublin and Cork in their respective finals, another celebration of G.A.A. will be taking place right here in Galway. 

Aer Lingus is inviting teams from all over the world to compete in the first ever International Hurling Festival. The best hurlers from the USA, South America, Canada, the UK, Continental Europe, the Middle East and Australia will descend on Galway for a three-day festival of ceol, craic and culture, as well as the first hurling competition of its kind. The tournament will feature sixteen International teams competing in four groups of four, with the eventual winners crowned in Galway’s legendary Pearse Stadium. In support of The Gathering, Aer Lingus want to bring hurling fans from all over the world home to celebrate our national game in what promises to be one of the most unique and exciting sporting events of 2013. Teams will be hosted in Loughrea, Gort, Ballinasloe and Galway West. Qualifying games will take place on Thursday 19th and Friday 20th September with the final taking place in Pearse Stadium on Saturday the 21st of September. 

Here at the Hardiman Library, we proudly hold a wonderful collection of material relating to Michael Cusack. The Michael Cusack collection is the unique personal collection of the founder of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), generally acknowledged to be the greatest amateur sporting organisation in the world. The GAA, which remains a dominant force in Ireland's cultural and sporting life, was founded in 1884 as a highly influential element of the Irish cultural renaissance of the late nineteenth century and of Ireland's struggle to re-establish its own political, linguistic and cultural identity. Among the most important historical items in the collection are the complete minutes of the Dublin Hurling Club, from 1883. Cusack was Vice-President of the club, a predecessor to the national organisation founded the following year. In addition, there is a diary kept by Cusack on a visit to his native Clare in 1902 and a range of personal, biographical and photographic material on Cusack's family. 

Also of interest is a photograph (below) of the young Michael Cusack, pictured as part of the Trinity College rugby team at the Phoenix rugby club, with Cusack seated second from left. Aside from its value for researchers into the cultural forces at work in that seminal period, and in particular the events leading up to the foundation of the GAA, the collection is unique in constituting the only known surviving material in Cusack's own hand and also in affording an unparalleled insight into the resilient personality of Cusack, the private family man, and his vibrant and gentle wit. 

You can view a digital showcase of the Michael Cusack archive in an online exhibition here

A Ban on Ye Small Ball

 Hurling banned in Galway City in 1527

 

"But only the great football" - Detail from Liber A 1527

 The James Hardiman Library includes in its archive an original manuscript of Galway corporation statutes dating back to 1486.  The Galway corporation statute book or Liber A as it is know is made up of annual entries listing office holders in Galway Corporation and statutes or local laws passed each year.

1527 Entry in Liber A

With Galway's recent success in wining the Leinster Hurling Championship and taking Kilkenny to a re-play in the all Ireland it may be a surprise to read that in the 16^th century there was an attempt to ban the sport in Galway city, 'hand ball' was also banned, however 'football'  was allowed.

According to a statue in Liber A dating from 1527:

...at no tyme the use ne ocupye the horlinge of the litill balle with hockie stickes or staves, nor use no hande ball to playe without the walles, but onely the great foote balle, on payn of the paynis above lymittid (a fine of 8 pence)

or in modern English:

...at no time the use nor occupy the hurling of the little ball with hockey sticks or staves,  nor use a handball to play outside the walls, but only the great football on pain of the pains above limited.

Detail from 1527 entry relating to fines on the playing of games including 'the horlinge of the litill balle'

Liber A which covers the period the period 1485-1711 is a large volume with each page measuring roughly 45cm x 25 cm.  While the first entry dates from the late 15^th century the handwriting would suggest that the first 70 years were transcribed in the mid 16^th century.   The item has been part of the University Library collection since its foundation.  It's not clear how it came into his possession but it appears that Liber A was originally part of the University's first Librarian James Hardiman's personal collection. 

Liber A with pencil for scale

The statutes in Liber A  cover a range of issues including trade,  local taxes, public morals and property rights.   While the content of Liber A relates primarily to local laws one can see  wider issues reflected in the manuscript.  For example entries for 1611 records that the mayor Valentine Blake was removed from office for refusing to take the 'Oath of Supremacy' .  The appointment of a Catholic mayor following the ascension to the throne of James II in 1685 is marked by the use of  ornate golden lettering.

Liber A entry for 1686, with Catholic Mayor's name written in Gold

 The Digitisation Service of the James Hardiman Library, NUI Galway is currently engaged in digitising this unique item which will be made publicly available on our website.