THERE WAS a time north of the Border and not so long ago when hurlers were afraid to be seen on the streets with their hurleys in their hands. There was always a danger somebody would claim to have mistaken the ash wand for a rifle of some sort and to have opened fire. We have come a long way.
Today hurling and camogie arrive at Stormont Castle. The children of west Belfast will play their games on the lawn in front of the building. Celebrities and hurlers will compete in Poc Fada competitions. The event is wonderfully titled the Poc ar an Chnoc. Edward Carson will gaze down on it all and if there are tears in his eyes they may just be from nostalgia.
Carson, having fathered modern unionism and ended the career of noted dual player Oscar Wilde, also played a little “hurley” during his time in Trinity College. One of the highlights of today’s Poc ar an Chnoc on the Stormont estate will be the celebrity Poc Fada, being played for the Edward Carson Trophy or An Corn Eamonn Mac Carsáin. The imposing and iconic statue of Carson which greets visitors to Stormont forms the basis of the trophy, which depicts Carson in his classic pose but with a hurley in one hand and a sliotar in the other. He looks like the sort of full back who knew how to say “No”.
The Poc Fada has been a part of Féile an Phobail for many years and has been run each year by Rossa Gaelic Athletic Club. Last November a tree was planted in the grounds of Stormont to mark 125 years of the GAA and subsequently Gerry Adams offered to host the Poc Fada in the grounds of Stormont with the proposal that a competition be named after Edward Carson.
The Poc Fada is the latest in a series of initiatives to bring hurling to a cross-community audience. Cú Chulainn, being the hero of the Ulster Cycles, seems to be a figure whom both communities find acceptable. A schools team drawn from either side of the divide trained together and competed in a tournament in America as the Belfast Cú Chulainns last year.
Cú Chulainn as a boy set out for the palace of the High King of Ireland at Emain Macha, hitting his sliotar high in the air and catching it before it hit the ground. As such he might have fathered the Poc Fada concept.
Former All-Ireland winning keeper with Kilkenny James McGarry; journalist, author and goalkeeper Christy O Connor; Waterford manager Davy Fitzgerald; Terence Sambo McNaughton, the former Antrim great; Brian McGilligan dual player with Derry; Noel Sands of Down and several others will compete for the senior trophy.
An unlikely list of Northern politicians, including Martin Rogan and Bairbre de Brún MEP will be competing in the celebrity event. West Belfast MP Gerry Adams, whose son Gearóid was a noted inter-county hurler for many years, said the day at Stormont would see a full programme of events.
Any money raised will go to the City of Angels Foundation which, through the medium of the arts, tries to prevent children of the shanty towns of São Paulo in Brazil from falling victim to the drug culture, to violence and organised crime. The foundation is run by Fr Pat Clarke, originally from Co Clare.