Today… We are going to learn about the game of hurling.

Could anybody tell me anything about Hurling?

What are the rules? 4 steps and strike the ball No picking the ball off the ground

What equipment would you need to play Hurling? Hurley Sliotar Socks Helmet Shorts Boots

How Cuchulainn got his name

Our story starts in Ireland long,long ago

Long ago, a king called Conor Mac Neasa ruled one part of Ireland Long ago, a king called Conor Mac Neasa ruled one part of Ireland. He was King of Ulster

Conor MacNessa had an army of warriors called the Red Branch Knights Conor MacNessa had an army of warriors called the Red Branch Knights. He trained them to be strong men.

King Conor also had a nephew called Setanta who wanted to be a Red Branch Knight. But he was too young. ..

One night Setanta said to his mother, "I want to be a Red Branch Knight." But she said he was too young. Setanta was a happy child who played the game of hurling with his friends. His team always won. When Setanta was ten he said to his father, "I want to join the Red Branch Knights." His father said he was still too young. So he stayed on milking cows, carrying water to his house and chopping wood.

One night a man came to the house to tell stories One night a man came to the house to tell stories. He told lots about King Conor and his knights. That night, while everyone was asleep, Setanta got his hurling stick and ball and left for King Conor's castle. . In his hands he carried items to shorten his journey, a hurley made out of brass, a sliotar made out of silver and a spear

Along the journey he would strike the silver sliotar with the brass hurl as hard as he could then throw the hurl and then the spear into the air after the sliotar and run to catch all three in succession without letting them hit the ground.

As Setanta arrived at Eamhain Macha the boys of the Macra were playing hurling as King Conor looked on. Setanta rushed in uninvited and beat every boy to the sliotar and solo’d the sliotar on the hurley, running the length of the pitch before scoring an unstoppable goal. The boys were not happy and tried to attack him but Setanta fought them off single handedly.

The Macra Before entering the Red Branch Knights, the boys had to train in the Macra.The Macra was set up by King Conor Mac Nessa and was training school for young boys to become future knights and leaders of the king’s army. The boys were trained everyday to use weapons, they practised wrestling and challenged each other to contests and games.

He went to meet King Conor and King Conor said he could stay He went to meet King Conor and King Conor said he could stay.Setanta’s dream came true, Conor agreed to let Setanta join the Macra.

Shortly after joining the Macra Setanta was playing hurling when King Conor was passing on his way to a feast at the house of his blacksmith, Culann. He stopped to watch the boys playing and noticed that it was two teams playing as normal except that Setanta was playing on his own against the two teams! As a reward Conor invited Setanta to the feast, however Setanta explained that he couldn’t leave just yet as the game wasn’t finished. It was agreed that Setanta would follow Conor to Culann’s house after the game.

After the match Setanta set off for Culann’s fort with his hurl and sliotar to keep him amused on the journey. As he arrived at Culann’s fort he heard a great growl and saw a giant beast bounding towards him. When King Conor arrived at Culann’s fort he had forgotten about his invitation to Setanta and Culann released his ferocious hound to protect the fort. Without a second thought and with all his speed and accuracy, Setanta hurled his sliotar into the hound’s gaping mouth and killed him instantly. Inside, the feast was interrupted by a ferocious howling. In horror King Conor remembered Setanta and believed his nephew to be torn to shreds by the mighty hound of Culann.

The fight The dog had advanced on Setanta and so he swung his hurley and hit his sliotar. He gave it a mighty whack and the sliotar flew into the hound’s mouth. This, of course, choked the dog.

King Conor and Culann rushed outside and were amazed to see Setanta alive and the hound dead.

Cuchulainn ‘What shall I do now?’ asked Culainn. ‘Who will guard my fort?’ ‘I will’ replied Setanta. He promised to stay and guard the fort for Culainn ‘til a new dog had been trained in. The Gaeilge for hound is ‘Cú’ and so Setanta became known as ‘Cuchulainn’ - the hound of Culainn.