Analysis: From Cork and Armagh to TikTok and Instagram, young and old road bowlers are taking up the bowl and keeping this unique tradition alive
By Conor Heffernan, Ulster University
On a quiet country road in Co Cork, traffic comes to a halt as a small iron ball hurtles around a bend, chased by a cheering crowd on foot. For those unaccustomed to the scene, it looks like 'an unusual and even archaic sport, a throwback to the days when roads were not monopolized by fast moving traffic.’ Yet across Ireland and beyond, the ancient game of road bowling is experiencing an unlikely resurgence, with young and old taking up the bowl and keeping this unique tradition alive.
From outlawed pastime to living heritage
Road bowling (Irish Ból an bhóthair, also called ‘long bullets’) dates back centuries and was once played widely across Ireland. The premise is beguilingly simple. Competitors take turns hurling a solid iron ‘bowl’ along a country road, and whoever reaches the finish line in the fewest throws wins. Matches unfolded on public roads, drawing big crowds and bigger wagers.
Over time, as historian Fintan Lane’s research shows, road bowling’s heartlands narrowed mainly to Cork in the south and Armagh in the north, where the sport never died out. In these strongholds, legendary bowlers like Mick Barry of Cork became folk heroes. Barry famously lofted a bowl clear over a high viaduct outside Cork city in the 1950s, a feat still recounted with awe.
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From RTÉ Archives, profile of Leeside legendary bowler Mick Barry for a 1986 episode of More Plain Tales
The sport's freewheeling street gatherings (and associated gambling) led to periodic bans in the past, but locals often kept the game going during quiet times of day. By the late 20th century, road bowling had faded in many areas and was at risk of being seen as a relic of another era.
Rolling into a new century
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