Camogie ( ; ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. It is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities.

A variant of the game hurling (which is played by men only), it is organised by the Dublin-based Camogie Association (An Cumann Camógaíochta). The annual All Ireland Camogie Championship has a record attendance of 33,154, while average attendances in recent years are in the range of 15,000 to 18,000. The final is broadcast live, with a television audience of over 300,000.

UNESCO lists Camogie as an element of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The game is referred to in Waiting for Godot by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett and in 'Fair Play' a detective novel by Irish author Louise Hegarty.

Game and Rules

The game consists of two thirty-minute halves. There is a half-time interval of 15 minutes. In event of extra time, halves must consist of 10 minutes each. Each team has 15 players on the field. Within the 15 players the team must consist of one goalkeeper, three full back players, three half back players, two centre-field players, three half forward players and three full forward players. There is a minimum requirement of 12 players on the pitch at all times. The rules are almost identical to hurling, with a few exceptions.

  • Goalkeepers wear the same colours as outfield players. This is because no special rules apply to the goalkeeper and so there is no need for officials to differentiate between goalkeeper and outfielders.
  • A camogie player can hand-pass a point over the bar from play. Hand-passing involves throwing the sliotar into the air and hitting it with the palm of the hand. Hand-passing into the goal has been forbidden in camogie since 2021 and in hurling since 1980.
  • Camogie games last 60 minutes, two 30-minute halves (senior inter-county hurling games last 70, which is two 35-minute halves). Ties are resolved by multiple 2×10-minute sudden death extra time periods; in these, the first team to score wins.
  • A smaller sliotar (ball) is used in camogie – commonly known as a size 4 sliotar – whereas hurlers play with a size 5 sliotar.
  • If a defending player hits the sliotar wide, a 45-metre puck (free shot) is awarded to the opposition (in hurling, it is a 65-metre puck).
  • After a score, the goalkeeper pucks out from the 13-metre line (in hurling, he must puck from the end line).
  • The metal band on the camogie stick must be covered with tape (not necessary in hurling).
  • Side-to-side charges are forbidden (permitted in hurling).
  • Two points are awarded for a score direct from a sideline cut (since March 2012).
  • Players can choose to wear skirts, skorts or shorts.

thumb|A camogie match in action

thumb|Players may catch the ball with their hand

Under the original 1903 rules both the match and the field were shorter than their hurling equivalents. Matches were 40 minutes, increased to 50 minutes in 1934, and playing fields long and wide. From 1929 until 1979 a second crossbar, a "points bar" was also used, meaning that a point would not be allowed if it travelled over this bar, a somewhat contentious rule through the 75 years it was in use. Teams were regulated at 12 a side, using an elliptical formation, although it was more a "squeezed lemon" formation with the three midfield players grouped more closely together than their counterpart on the half back and half-forward lines. In 1999 camogie moved to the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) field-size and 15-a-side, adopting the standard GAA butterfly formation.

Field and equipment

thumb|A camogie helmet lies beside a [[hurley (stick)|hurley]]

Field

The field is not of a fixed size, but must be long by wide.

Sticks

The length of the stick, called a "hurley", varies depending on the player's height.

Goals and scoring

thumb|Goalposts and scoring system used in camogie

H-shaped goals are used. A team achieves a score by making the ball go between the posts. If the ball goes over the bar for a "point", the team earns one point. If the ball goes under the bar for a "goal", the team earns three points.

History

Foundation

thumb|A camogie team pictured in Waterford in October 1915

thumb|A camogie game in 1934

The name was invented by Tadhg Ua Donnchadha (Tórna) at meetings in 1903 in advance of the first matches in 1904. The term camogie is derived from the name of the stick used in the game. Men play hurling using a curved stick called a camán in Irish. Women in the early camogie games used a shorter stick described by the diminutive form camóg. The suffix -aíocht (originally "uidheacht") was added to both words to give names for the sports: camánaíocht (which became iománaíocht) and camógaíocht. When the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded in 1884 the English-origin name "hurling" was given to the men's game. When an organisation for women was set up in 1904, it was decided to anglicise the Irish name camógaíocht to camogie. Nonetheless, the creation of camogie was not universally supported - even by women - with leading figures such as president of the Irish Countrywomen's Association and Conradh na Gaeilge member, Kit Ahern (despite her support of GAA clubs for men) describing camogie as "too strenuous for girls".

Leagues

Though the finals are given prominent TV slots and efforts to market the game are extensive, this has not stopped media descriptions of attendances of a few hundred at vast arenas like Croke Park (capacity of over 80,000) and Semple Stadium (capacity only 45,000) as "paltry and embarrassing".

Ireland

An Cumann Camógaíochta has a similar structure to the Gaelic Athletic Association, with an Annual Congress every spring which decides on policy and major issues such as rule changes, and an executive council—the Ard Chomhairle—which deals with short-term issues and governance. The game is administered from a headquarters in Croke Park in Dublin. Each of 28 county boards takes control of its own affairs (all of the Irish counties except Fermanagh, Leitrim and Sligo), with the number of clubs ranging from 63 in Cork to one in Leitrim. There are four provincial councils and affiliates in Asia, Australia, Britain, Europe, New York, New Zealand and North America. However, Ireland does not have as much local coverage of ladies' sport as other countries such as Australia.

Clubs

Ireland

There are 538 camogie clubs, of which 513 are based on the island of Ireland, 47 in Connacht, 195 in Leinster, 160 in Munster, and 110 in Ulster.

Connacht

There are 47 camogie teams in Connacht.

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:left; font-size:90%;"

|+

|-

! style=background:#CEF2E0 colspan=4| <span style="color:black;">Connacht</span>

|-

! Club

! Teams

! Website

|-

|Galway

|34

|

|-

|Leitrim

|1

|

|-

| Mayo

| 4

|

|-

|Roscommon

| 7

|

|-

|Sligo

|2

|

|}

Leinster

There are 195 camogie teams in Leinster.

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:left; font-size:90%;"

|+

|-

! style=background:#CEF2E0 colspan=4| <span style="color:black;">Leinster</span>

|-

! Club

! Teams

! Website

|-

|Carlow

|6

|

|-

|Dublin

|39

|

|-

|Kildare

|19

|

|-

|Kilkenny

|33

|

|-

|Laois

|7

|

|-

|Longford

|0

|

|-

|Louth

|6

|

|-

|Meath

|14

|

|-

|Offaly

|12

|

|-

|Westmeath

|16

|

|-

|Wexford

|33

|

|-

|Wicklow

|13

|

|}

Munster

There are 172 camogie teams in Munster.

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:left; font-size:90%;"

|+

|-

! style=background:#CEF2E0 colspan=4| <span style="color:black;">Munster</span>

|-

! Club

! Teams

! Website

|-

|Clare

|26

|

|-

|Cork

|70

|

|-

|Kerry

|7

|

|-

|Limerick

|25

|

|-

|Tipperary

|32

|

|-

|Waterford

|16

|

|-

|}

Ulster

There are 110 camogie teams in Ulster.

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:left; font-size:90%;"

|+

|-

! style=background:#CEF2E0 colspan=4| <span style="color:black;">Ulster</span>

|-

! Club

! Teams

! Website

|-

|Antrim

|22

|

|-

|Armagh

|18

|

|-

|Cavan

|9

|

|-

|Derry

|23

|

|-

|Donegal

|3

|

|-

|Down

|21

|

|-

|Fermanagh

|0

|

|-

|Monaghan

|4

|

|-

|Tyrone

|5

|

|}

Overseas

  • Europe 4
  • London 7
  • New South Wales 5
  • Toronto 2
  • United States 7
  • Western Australia 1

Competitions in Ireland

All-Ireland Championship

thumb|The [[O'Duffy Cup, named after Seán O'Duffy, is the prize presented to the winners of the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship]]

The county is the unit of structure in elite competition, responsible for organising club competitions within the county unit and for fielding inter-county teams in the various grades of the All-Ireland championships and National Camogie League. The All Ireland Club Championship is staged at Senior, Intermediate and Junior level, usually reaching the final stages in November–December or the following March. London competed in the National Camogie League in the 2010 season, but not in 2011.

Counties compete for the elite All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship in which the O'Duffy Cup is awarded. The All-Ireland Final is held every year in Croke Park during September, usually on the week between the hurling final and Gaelic football final, and attracts attendances of up to 33,000.

Southeast Asia has teams in Vietnam, Thailand, and Kuala Lumpur.

In North America camogie is played in the United States, Canada, and in parts of the Caribbean. Camogie has also been included as a part of the GAA World Games.

GAA World Games

2019 Renault GAA World Games

Renault GAA World Games - Camogie (Native Born)

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"

|+2019 Camogie (Native Born) final standings

|-

!width=15|Pos

!Country / Team

!P

!W

!D

!L

!F

!A

!Pts

|-

!1

| Twin Cities (USGAA)

|10

|9

|1

|0

|119

|26

|19

|-

!2

| The Warriors (USGAA)

|10

|5

|3

|2

|56

|36

|13

|-

!3

| Heartland (USGAA)

|10

|5

|2

|3

|58

|35

|12

|-

!4

| MidAtlantic (USGAA)

|10

|4

|2

|4

|67

|42

|10

|-

!5

| Europe Rovers

|10

|2

|0

|8

|15

|95

|4

|-

!6

| Canada Native (CAGAA)

|10

|1

|0

|9

|13

|94

|2

|}

North American presence

Camogie teams in North America have existed for at least a century.

United States

The national organizing body for Gaelic Games in the United States, with the exception of New York City, is the USGAA where camogie can be found. It is the governing body which promotes camogie in the United States along with other Gaelic sports. The USGAA also maintains a close relationship with other GAA groups in North America including Canada (Gaelic Games Canada), the New York GAA, and the Caribbean.

GAA World Games

The United States has sent a number of camogie teams from the US to compete in the GAA World Games in 2016 and 2019.

Canada

The national organizing body for Gaelic Games in Canada is Gaelic Games Canada (GGC) Canadian GAA (CGAA) where camogie can be found. Canada and the CGAA are home to a number of camogie clubs.

Clubs

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:left; font-size:90%;"

|+Canada

|-

! style=background:#CEF2E0 colspan=4| <span style="color:black;">Canadian Camogie Clubs</span>

|-

! Club

! City/Province

! Est.

! Website

|-

|Montreal Shamrocks

|20px Montreal, Québec

|1948

|Montreal Shamrocks GAC

|-

|Calgary Chieftains / Chieftainettes

|20px Calgary, Alberta

|1977

|

|-

|Edmonton Wolfe Tones

|20px Edmonton, Alberta

|

|

|-

| Le Chéile Camogie Club Toronto

| 20px Toronto, Ontario

|

|Toronto Camogie

|-

|ISSC Camogie

| 20px Vancouver, British Columbia

|

|ISSC Camogie

|-

|ISSC Shamrocks

|20px Vancouver, British Columbia

|2021

|ISSC Camogie

|-

|ISSC Pearse

|20px Vancouver, British Columbia

|2021

|ISSC Camogie

|}

GAA World Games

Canada has sent a number of camogie teams from Canada to compete in the GAA World Games in 2016 and 2019.

Awards

Camogie All Stars Awards are awarded annually to the elite players who have performed best in each of the 15 positions on a traditional camogie team. Player of the year and other achievement awards have also been awarded to leading players for several decades.

Team of the Century

Picked in 2004

  1. Eileen Duffy-O'Mahony (Dublin)
  2. Liz Neary (Kilkenny)
  3. Marie Costine-O'Donovan (Cork)
  4. Mary Sinnott-Dinan (Wexford)
  5. Bridie Martin-McGarry (Kilkenny)
  6. Sandie Fitzgibbon (Cork)
  7. Margaret O'Leary-Leacy (Wexford)
  8. Mairéad McAtamney-Magill (Antrim)
  9. Linda Mellerick (Cork)
  10. Sophie Brack (Dublin)
  11. Kathleen Mills-Hill (Dublin)
  12. Joni Traynor (Kilkenny)
  13. Úna O'Connor (Dublin)
  14. Pat Moloney-Lenihan (Cork)
  15. Deirdre Hughes (Tipperary)
  16. Angela Downey-Browne (Kilkenny)

See also

  • Ashbourne Cup
  • Camogie All Stars Awards
  • Poc Fada
  • Women's shinty
  • Field hockey
  • Bando (sport)
  • Shinty
  • Hurling
  • Lacrosse

References

  • Official Camogie Association Website