![Hurling sliotar](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Hurling_sliotar.jpg)
A sliotar ( , ) or sliothar is a hard solid sphere slightly larger than a tennis ball, consisting of a
cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
core covered by two pieces of
leather
Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...
stitched together. Sometimes called a "hurling ball", it resembles a
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
with more pronounced stitching. It is used in the
Gaelic games
Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichí Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the ...
of
hurling
Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...
,
camogie
Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities.
A variant of the game of hurling (which is played by men onl ...
,
rounders
Rounders is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a rounded end wooden, plastic, or metal bat. The players score by running aroun ...
and
shinty
Shinty ( gd, camanachd, iomain) is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread in Scotland, an ...
.
Dimensions
An official
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...
(GAA) sliotar, as used in top level hurling competitions such as the
National Hurling League
The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...
or the
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurling competition i ...
s is subject to strict regulations as regards its size, mass and composition.
The following regulations apply:
* The diameter is between not including the rib
* The mass is between
* The rib height is between 2 mm and 2.8 mm, and width between 3.6 mm and 5.4 mm
* The leather cover can be between 1.8 mm and 2.7 mm and is laminated with a coating of no more than 0.15 mm
Approved sliotars carry a GAA mark of approval. The GAA maintains a list of approved suppliers, based on manufacturers who pass their inspection.
History
Early (pre-GAA) sliotars used various materials, depending on the part of the country, including combinations of wood, leather, rope and animal hair and even hollow bronze.
The etymology is uncertain, with some connecting it to ''sliabh'' ("mountain") and ''thar'' ("across"), after
Cúchulainn's story of hitting a
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
ball across a mountain.
In the early years of the GAA, there was no specific standard for the size or weight of sliotars. The man credited with initial standardisation of the sliotar is Ned Treston (1862–1949) of
Gort
Gort ( or ) is a town of around 3,000 inhabitants in County Galway in the west of Ireland. Located near the border with County Clare, the town lies between the Burren and the Slieve Aughty and is served by the R458 and R460 regional roads, wh ...
,
County Galway
"Righteousness and Justice"
, anthem = ()
, image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg
, map_caption = Location in Ireland
, area_footnotes =
, area_total_km2 = ...
. He was selected to play in a match between South Galway and North Tipperary in February 1886 in Dublin. Prior the game, there was debate between the teams as regards the size of the sliotar. Treston made a sliotar at a nearby saddler, which was used in the game, and went on to be a prototype for subsequent sliotars.
Johnny McAuliffe (1896–1960) of
County Limerick
"Remember Limerick"
, image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Ireland
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = Munster
, subdivision ...
is credited with the modern design. Before his improvements the ball tended to be inconsistent due to poor manufacturing. It was also heavier than modern sliotars (over 200g), and due to being made partly with horse-hair, tended to lose shape during play, and become soggy in wet conditions. The brown colour also meant that the ball was difficult to see in some conditions. McAuliffe's changes introduced a cork core, with a 2 piece white-tanned leather covering as the standard materials. These changes led to a harder wearing ball, which was water resistant and easier to see. The construction materials also meant that the ball was only about half as heavy as Treston's version.
In the early 2000s, the GAA experimented with using sliotars with rubber rather than cork cores; however, it was found that using a rubber core led to a more unpredictable bounce, and moved a lot faster than a ball with a cork core, especially in wet conditions. It was decided to return to a cork ball because of this.
While different sized sliotars are used for different ages and codes (with, for example, senior camogie games using a "size 4" sliotar, and senior hurling a "size 5" ball), some claims have historically been made of non-standard balls being used to gain a perceived advantage in competition.
![Anti-yellow sliotar graffiti](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Anti-yellow_sliotar_graffiti.jpg)
A yellow sliotar was introduced for the
2020 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (the
Liam MacCarthy Cup
The Liam MacCarthy Cup is a trophy awarded annually by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) to the team that wins the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the main competition in the prehistoric sport of hurling. Based on the design of a ...
only). This change caused minor controversy as some players believed the yellow sliotar was inferior to the standard white sliotar.
References
External links
"Something in the air... The great sliotar debate" RTÉ, 31 October 2020
{{Hurling
Balls
Hurling equipment