Brian Barry
GAA Editor @BrianGBarry
Hurling granted UNESCO cultural heritage status
Last Updated: 29/11/18 5:10pm
The sport of hurling, along with camogie, has been granted official recognition from UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, a list of protected cultural activities.
Ireland's national sport is among the fastest and oldest sports in the world, and this is the culmination of what the GAA described as an eight-year process.
"It's a special day for hurling," explained GAA director of games development and research, Pat Daly at Thursday's press briefing. "The one thing that will tell you more about Ireland than any other thing is hurling. That's the reason why we're here today because we're keen to ensure that it's protected, that's it's passed on as part of our culture to future generations, that it's played nationally and internationally."
"The one thing that will tell you more about Ireland than any other thing is hurling."
Pat Daly
The GAA are hoping this development will help increase hurling's profile and spread the game overseas.
GAA director general Tom Ryan added his delight at the news: "There are few things in Irish life that can lay claim to the same sort of history that hurling enjoys, the same heritage, the same sort of tradition. We all feel that ourselves."
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