Road Bowling

I was reading Brian O’Connor’s article there in the IT about road bowling, something i thought had pretty much died away, but seems to be going great guns. Do any of ye partake in this noble pursuit? I’ve always been fascinated by it after coming across a large group of people engaging in it while on holidays in Cork when I was a kid. I’d say some serious money gets put on it.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/brian-o-connor-7.1837479

[quote=“Fitzy, post: 789595, member: 236”]I was reading Brian O’Connor’s article there in the IT about road bowling, something i thought had pretty much died away, but seems to be going great guns. Do any of ye partake in this noble pursuit? I’ve always been fascinated by it after coming across a large group of people engaging in it while on holidays in Cork when I was a kid. I’d say some serious money gets put on it.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/brian-o-connor-7.1837479[/quote]

They play it near us on the road between Ardpatrick and Kildorrery.

I played a very little amount of it in GAA days and such things. Great sport with a nice Irish sub-Culture. Massive where I’m from and the All-Ireland’s were held in Waterfall back along. Also the famous Muck Barry is from my parish.

One of the few things that puts settled and travelers together in harmony.

Unbelievable money changes hands in it.

Watched a fair bit of this in the roads around Castlehaven as a youngster. Was proudly introduced to the current All Ireland Under 18 girls champion at a funeral there recently.

There are die hards who travel around the country (albeit mostly Cork and the northeast) watching these events every week. I’d say they’re wagering some money alright.

The only thing I’ll say about it is from a safety point of view. We were driving in mid-west Cork and came across a lot of randomly parked cars on the road side. We were wondering what was going on, a funeral, hunting, maybe a match. Next thing we went round a bend and there was 50+ people in the middle of the road. The wife was driving. If it had being me we might have been going faster. Barely missed a few of them.

There was a lad at the other end of the crowd with a high-vis jacket, but none at the end we came from. Now I know that the parked cars were a sign that bowling was going on, but as a non-local it meant nothing to me.

Improve your safety lads or twill end up like the sulky riding in Limerick!

[quote=“habanerocat, post: 789660, member: 1513”]The only thing I’ll say about it is from a safety point of view. We were driving in mid-west Cork and came across a lot of randomly parked cars on the road side. We were wondering what was going on, a funeral, hunting, maybe a match. Next thing we went round a bend and there was 50+ people in the middle of the road. The wife was driving. If it had being me we might have been going faster. Barely missed a few of them.

There was a lad at the other end of the crowd with a high-vis jacket, but none at the end we came from. Now I know that the parked cars were a sign that bowling was going on, but as a non-local it meant nothing to me.

Improve your safety lads or twill end up like the sulky riding in Limerick![/quote]

:rolleyes:

Political Correctness gone mad

Political Correctness gone mad[/quote]
Did you mean to post that in the Róisín Shortall thread?

[quote=“habanerocat, post: 789660, member: 1513”]The only thing I’ll say about it is from a safety point of view. We were driving in mid-west Cork and came across a lot of randomly parked cars on the road side. We were wondering what was going on, a funeral, hunting, maybe a match. Next thing we went round a bend and there was 50+ people in the middle of the road. The wife was driving. If it had being me we might have been going faster. Barely missed a few of them.

There was a lad at the other end of the crowd with a high-vis jacket, but none at the end we came from. Now I know that the parked cars were a sign that bowling was going on, but as a non-local it meant nothing to me.

Improve your safety lads or twill end up like the sulky riding in Limerick![/quote]

Fuck off. We don’t want boring do-Gooders like you in Cork

[quote=“habanerocat, post: 789660, member: 1513”]The only thing I’ll say about it is from a safety point of view. We were driving in mid-west Cork and came across a lot of randomly parked cars on the road side. We were wondering what was going on, a funeral, hunting, maybe a match. Next thing we went round a bend and there was 50+ people in the middle of the road. The wife was driving. If it had being me we might have been going faster. Barely missed a few of them.

There was a lad at the other end of the crowd with a high-vis jacket, but none at the end we came from. Now I know that the parked cars were a sign that bowling was going on, but as a non-local it meant nothing to me.

Improve your safety lads or twill end up like the sulky riding in Limerick![/quote]

Normally only played at ten o clock on a Sunday morning. Wouldn’t be many boy racers or tourists scooting around th back roads of rural co cork at that hr of he morning!

[quote=“habanerocat, post: 789660, member: 1513”]The only thing I’ll say about it is from a safety point of view. We were driving in mid-west Cork and came across a lot of randomly parked cars on the road side. We were wondering what was going on, a funeral, hunting, maybe a match. Next thing we went round a bend and there was 50+ people in the middle of the road. The wife was driving. If it had being me we might have been going faster. Barely missed a few of them.

There was a lad at the other end of the crowd with a high-vis jacket, but none at the end we came from. Now I know that the parked cars were a sign that bowling was going on, but as a non-local it meant nothing to me.

Improve your safety lads or twill end up like the sulky riding in Limerick![/quote]

:rolleyes:

[quote=“habanerocat, post: 789660, member: 1513”]The only thing I’ll say about it is from a safety point of view. We were driving in mid-west Cork and came across a lot of randomly parked cars on the road side. We were wondering what was going on, a funeral, hunting, maybe a match. Next thing we went round a bend and there was 50+ people in the middle of the road. The wife was driving. If it had being me we might have been going faster. Barely missed a few of them.

There was a lad at the other end of the crowd with a high-vis jacket, but none at the end we came from. Now I know that the parked cars were a sign that bowling was going on, but as a non-local it meant nothing to me.

Improve your safety lads or twill end up like the sulky riding in Limerick![/quote]
Thinly veiled my wife and I are shit drivers and are a danger on the road.

Twas a Sunday afternoon we cam across them.

Mark my words it’s an accident waiting to happen.

This used to be done around here a small bit before, never heard of settled people getting involved in it though.

It’s a respectable pursuit for anyone RTT. Certainly not a pikie sport in Cork

Just looked up a bit about it there and was surprised to see that alright. The only ones I remember hearing about playing it around here was the knacks.

Cork and Armagh the real strongholds of the game. Great spot for a hip flask and a bit of illegal gambling of a Sunday after mass

Massive Pikie sport Dan, The O Driscoll brothers are travelers and Senior All Ireland champions, from Cork. It is pursued by all sorts though, in fact I would say rurally in the past it crossed many a social boundary.

That’s a new one to me i must say. Never seen pikies at it.

Al[quote=“dancarter, post: 790401, member: 122”]That’s a new one to me i must say. Never seen pikies at it.[/quote]

Alot of the Mid-Cork and West-Cork games would have Travellers involved.