The Road Bowling King, Co. Cork, Ireland 1985
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
- Two bowling champions go head to head in Cork to decide who is king of the road.
The contest takes place in Ballincurrig County Cork as Harry Toal and Bill Daly do battle out for the title of undisputed road bowling champion.
It was billed as one of the most interesting road bowl playing duels witnessed since the titanic struggles of Danny McParland and Mick Barry.
Not since the sixties had the competition seen two such megastars compete for the title of king of the road as World Road Bowling Champion Billy Daly from West Cork took on All Ireland Champion from Armagh Harry Toal.
Referee Séamus Ó Tuama has some words of advice for the two players and believes that strength, speed and accuracy are the keys to success in the sport.
The stakes are high, as are the bets as spectators gather to witness the contest.
The game carries on as the light fades and it is the job of the referee to decide when it is not fit to throw any more. Play continued the following day and Bill Daly went on to take the title of King of the Road and took home the Bank of Ireland Cup.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 6 November 1985. The reporter is Peter McNiff.
This was amazing to see. It is like a sport is born from a kids game, so that grown men can still have fun like kids. Wonderful stuff!
When i think about it, I guess all sports are like that
What people did before the internet awesome The whole community gets involved it's better than everyone sitting looking at screens in their individual boxes
The energy from the 80s/90s has been completely lost its such a shame.
A good auld walk, chucking things about for money and then arguing about it. Basically Ireland since the days of St. Patrick
Brilliant thanks for sharing 👍🏻☘️
This channel is great 😁
Irish Road Bowling is an Irish sport that traditionally flourishes in rural areas. It is a long established past time for many however, it is one that is declining in popularity due to a lack of interest coming from the youth of today.
Irish road bowling is a legal sport played on public roadways all over Ireland however, it’s followers are concentrated to smaller pockets in the country. Two separate legitimate organisations oversee the running of the sport but without the participation of players, effort of officials and commitment of followers locally the tradition would have long since died.
There are various competitions for all ages carried out each year such as a regional, county, provincial and all Ireland championships with also a King and Queen of the roads competition which can be seen in this video.
As for a the activity itself, its an all weather all year round sport played on public roads. The only influences that stop bowling are extreme weather, night time/darkness or an unregulated/unsuitable road. But for it to be played anywhere players, a referee, coaches to direct the players and stewards are all needed.
On the day, the aforementioned along with spectators will travel to a pre-decided venue (road) to play on a pre-decided course (part of the road) with designated lines marking the start and finish. The length of the course is determined by strength and skill with more advanced players bowling longer courses. Before the start of the competition the players will warm up with practice throws from the start line. This time is used to give spectators time to arrive and the opportunity for a stake to made up. The stake are equal amounts of money wagered by the followers of each player with the winning side claiming all the money and dividing it so every person receives twice of what they gambled. Eg put down 5, win 10. It is also used as a way for neutral parties to see the skill of each players before placing a bet. The contest has always been known as a ‘scór’, the meaning of which is 20, due to the amount of shots taken to cross the finish line being close to 20 for some venues in the past.
The foremost attribute a player needs is good hand to eye coordination because aim and placement of the 28 ounce or roughly 800 gram bowl is very important. Thereafter technique, how far and how fast you can throw the bowl are most desirable.
For any of those from Ireland looking to get involved or who want to learn more use this link to access the official website of the Irish road bowling association, thanks.
www.irishroadbowling.ie/about-our-sport
The way you explain the betting, it sounds as if the money is held by someone akin to 'the banker' in a board game like Monopoly ( only for real!), rather than what I'd pictured, which was a figure more like a trackside bookie; would that be fair to say?
I suppose the camera has a sort of 'foreshortening' effect, but as a spectator sport, it has to be said, it looks kinda dangerous (almost like it puts rallying in the ha'penny place, Ha Ha!). Looking at the people with pushchairs, I expect the stewards would be kept busy keeping them behind the action!? Tbh, living in a time which is so litigious and in which the insurance companies have lost the run of themselves (Hell, it was bad enough in the mid-80's) and with governments that want to legislate the fun out of everything, I'm half-surprised they haven't run it off of the roads completely.
When I lived in Cork up til the early 90's, I'd occasionally come upon people bowling around the outskirts of the city if my Dad had brought us out for a drive, say... Never *did* attend a 'scór' though, I'm sorry to say now. When I look at these lads & lasses on video, what blows me away is their co-ordination!
Anyway, thanks - sorry, hadn't meant to rabbit on quite so long!
ps- Thanks for your comprehensive and enlightening explanation. In terms of complexity, well, "It's not cricket" - Thank God! But as a newcomer one appreciates things being explained even if they seem self - evident to the afficianado.
@@richiehoyt8487 the money is usually held by the referee but it’s like all things if you’re refereeing and you’re not comfortable holding it another steward can take it as long as everyone knows about it and the man doesn’t forget that he has it in his pocket before he goes home.
As for danger the spectators are usually well versed in how to stay safe but a good rule of thumb if you’re accompanied by a beginner is have them way out the road too far to get hit or at the tips next to the ref and players as they’re throwing the bowl.
As for the stewards it usually depends on the occasion for example they’d have to be very alert and vocal for the contest in this video basically on the top of their game that day.
The insurance is a growing issue seeing as it’s a sport that involves people with tremendous speed and power hurling a cast iron ball into a crowd, well, on paper anyway haha
The one thing I have to say about driving through is that a lot of people will roll down the window and ask what’s happening rather than parking up the road and following it for a bit instead which is kind of confusing to me.
Hitler O'Regan - I kid you not, was one of the top road bowlers back then....
Won't see much of it today
Great video 👍
Very good video
Thank you a lot beautiful
I ADORE READING
HAHA. .LOOKS LIKE FUN
Good old proper currency.... pounds
One 'pound' to the 'quid' ;^)
@@richiehoyt8487 Lol. You obviously watch RUclips vids same time as me.
Get shut of the euro
This is one step from Spinal Tap et al.
What are they throwing? A stone?
A metal ball (carbon steel), as used in boule, Boccia, Petanque
@@sdrtcacgnrjrc blimey, those spectators had no fear, lol.
@@jinxterx yeah :-)
they really did have a lot of trust in the players
Also known as bullets
A roughly 800 gram cast iron piece of metal shaped into a ball
Has any one been badly hurt or killed playing road bowls ….
Astonishingly very few people have been killed by the ball or the cars travelling the roads but there has been a few cases of people who happened to pass away from natural causes who were present
@@bizzlebazzle280 ahahah Well theres a good story from years back a Bowl hit a small pebble on the road traveled through the air smashed through the window of a car and through another car window