The Sport of Road Bowling in Ireland
Courtesy of Ireland's Own Magazine
Noel Magnier fills us in on the history of a sport which has been
around for a long time and is actually growing in strength in
Ireland and abroad.
The
game of road bowling in Ireland, North and South, can track its
roots back to ancient Ulster at Eamhain Maca near Armagh, which
was the historic home of the High Kings of Ireland. Further bowling
lore has a reference to the Dutch Prince William of Orange, and
his soldiers as having a link with the introduction of the game
when he came to Ireland in 1690. Forms of the game can even be
traced back to the Pharaohs of Egypt. But Andrew Steven, during
his research on the Council of Europe Project “Traditional
Games of Europe, East and West', traced unique references to road
bowling in the North-East of England by miners with potsherd bowls
across the English moors.
He also discovered in an 18th century magazine, a mention of road
bowling in London, played with a skittle bowl, taking place from
Surrey to London. In Ireland, Andrew Steven came across references
to 'Bowling' “Long Bullets' or “Bullets” in
17 of the 32 counties.
The game in its present form began to emerge in the 17th and 18th
centuries. Stone and iron bowls were used during this period.
Somerville and Ross refer to both themselves “Bowling an
iron ball along a road” and “a gathering of young
men rolling a heavy round stone along the roads”, the common
objective being to cover a certain distance in a given amount
of throws.
Stone bowls were used in Mayo and Galway into this present century
and the use of the modern cast iron bowl was developed from a
plentiful supply available from the British Military establishments
of the day. The military influence can to this day be seen in
parts of Armagh and in County Mayo, where the game of bowling
is still known as “Bullets” or “Long Bullets”.
So, the historical roots firmly established, we move forward two
centuries and the bowl playing, or a “score of bowls”
continued to grow in Ireland, mainly in Cork and Armagh, despite
having no structured rules. The term “a score of bowls”
meant that whichever player could throw the bowl furthest over
twenty throws, was declared the winner. Then towards the end of
the last century the rules of the game took shape, and in 1954
the rules were finally formalized and a controlling body established
under the chairmanship of Dunmanway schoolteachers Flor Crowley
at a meeting in Enniskeanne, Co.Cork. The name of the organization
is Bol Chumann na h-Eireann. These initial moves signalled exciting
times ahead for road bowling in Ireland. Then in the late 50’s
the writings of Flor Crowley in the Cork Examiner under the pen
name “Boithreach” and also in other periodicals were
instrumental in introducing the game to the Continent.
Through contact with a family named Poorthuis in the Netherlands,
an international governing body for bowling was established. Links
were forged between Bol Chumann na hEireann and Nederlandse Klootschieters
Bond (NKB), the Dutch organization, and expanded to embrace two
German associations. And so the International Bowl Playing Association
(I.B.A.) was founded m June 1969 in Losser in Holland. Those developments
elevated the sport to international status and the first ever
Irish bowling team travelled to Holland to compete in the European
Championships in 1969 and the same year the first overseas branch,
London, joined Bol Chumann na h-Eireann.
Staging the European Championships was the ultimate accolade to
the development and organization of the game in Ireland. The European
Championships have been held here on three subsequent occasions,
in 1970 and in 1977 and more recently in 1992. In 1985, the first
world Road Bowling championship was held in Whitechurch in Cork
and the games were sponsored by “Paddy” Whiskey. Since
1963, the winners of the Ulster and Munster titles have competed
for the All-Ireland Championship in the various grades.
The
game is played generally with a 28oz cast iron bowl, about 58mm
in diameter,
along selected public roads. Bowling is an inexpensive hobby -
all that is required is a tracksuit, runners and a bowl. The rules
of the game are straightforward, the basic
objective being to cover the designated course in the least amount
of throws or shots of the bowl.
Bowling is a sport enjoyed by men and women, young and old, and
is truly a family
sport. The strongholds of the sport are in Armagh and Tyrone in
Ulster, Cork, Waterford and Limerick in Munster and Mayo in Connaught.
The widening appeal of bowling is evident with the establishment
of new regions in Louth and Wexford, Offaly, Kilkenny, Dublin,
Kerry and Monaghan.
Overseas, the popularity of the sport is spreading; bowling is
being played In Holland, Germany and now Italy where international
competitions took place for the first time in May 1997. The Dutch
and Germans have their own separate and distinct variations of
the sport.
Next year, 2004, is the golden jubilee of the founding of Bol
Chumann na h-Eireann and a year of festivities is planned with
players and supporters coming together in celebration from many
points around the globe, including Germany, the Netherlands, Italy,
London
and the U.S.A.
Noel Magnier is the author of “Is That You Boy”, a
book about growing up in the Cork of the 40s and 50s.
Road Bowling 
