The clash of the ash

The clash of the ash - that's how hurling is known in Ireland. It's because the wood from ash trees is used to make the hurley stick. I went along to a game today between Cork and Tipperary in Pairc Ui Chaoimh in Cork.

The throw in (so called because the sliotar [the ball] is literally thrown in by the referee) was at 2.30. There was a good crowd there. I hadn't been to a match for a few years and a couple of things struck me about my visit there - I'll share them with you now.

I got there early and went through an old style turnstile where someone on the other side had to release a pedal to let me in when I pushed on the turnstile - really old style, if you'll pardon the pun. A traditional Irish music band was then 'entertaining' the crowd before the game got under way. Then we had the national anthem where only a singer sang and not the crowd - as you'd expect.

The size of the pitch was a surprise to me. It just looked so big and vast and the players by comparison - so tiny and lost on the big pitch. I had forgotten what it was like to see a game being played there right in front of me. If you ever see a hurling match on tv, it looks really fast paced and dangerous. Seeing it there in the flesh - it didn't seem as fast as it does on tv. I'm not sure why that is - could be to do with editing I suppose. Another thing is when you see any sport on tv, you can rely on them for replays and watching it from different camera angles, but when you're in the sports ground you don't have the same luxury and have to keep your eyes glued on the pitch or you'll miss something and never see it again.

I was sitting near a guy who had an opinion on everything that was going on on the pitch. He was looking all around him - either looking for people to back him up or for people to argue with, I'm not sure which. The rest of the crowd was surprisingly reserved. They clapped when a goal or point was scored by either side and didn't really get excited until the very last minutes of the game with shouts of 'Come on Cork' or 'Come on Tipp'. It ended a draw with 1-14 a piece.

Happy St Patrick's Day 2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Cork City, the second biggest city in Ireland. This is my second year living in the city and my second time seeing the celebrations for the Irish national holiday. The parade through South Mall, Grand Parade and Patrick Street was colourful, noisy and very well attended. The people marching through the streets were a mix of local cultural and sports groups and associations of new Irish as they are called; people who were born in other countries who came to live in Ireland.

I have a few pictures here showing some of the people marching in the parade. It was an education to watch all this go by - I would probably not have known that Angola's flag still bears the symbols of Soviet times. have a look out for it, complete with cog wheel, machete and a gold star. Apart from that you'll see a strange collection of images that represents St. Patrick's day for many people in Ireland.