There is huge opportunity to grow hurling - Maher

At the outset of his presidency of the Gaelic Athletic Association [GAA], a key objective for Jarlath Burns was to "preserve and promote" hurling.

First records of the sport being played date back to 1272 BC. In 2018, it received international recognition when inscribed by Unesco on the representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

While that suggests a thriving sport, in many parts of Ireland it has struggled to take root.

William Maher, the GAA's national head of hurling, estimates that out of approximately 1,600 GAA clubs throughout Ireland, less than half offer hurling, while in Ulster, that number drops.

Growing a game where there is no great tradition requires significant work, but there have been green shoots of light with 45 new clubs availing of Hurling Development Committee [HDC] starter pack initiative last year.

Playing equipment and coaching is provided for those new clubs with the aid of the Irish government who provided just under €750,000 in funding from its 2026 budget to support the growth of hurling in non-traditional areas.

On Monday at Belcoo O'Rahilly's club in Fermanagh, Maher was joined by Burns, local players and coaches, plus many more young aspiring hurlers and camogs for the 2026 launch.

"There is a huge opportunity and huge gap to build out hurling in more GAA clubs," former Tipperary player Maher told BBC Sport NI's Mark Sidebottom.

"In Ulster we have 360 clubs and 115 play hurling, so that's one in three. We have to build out the clubs, build out the number of players coming through at development squad level and all levels to allow the game to be played."

Next year will mark a decade since the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship was last contested, with Antrim since going on to have spells in the Leinster round robin, while other Ulster counties have plied their trade in lower championship grades.

There have been notable strides made, with Cavan reaching Lory Meagher Cup finals in 2025 and 2021, having had no senior inter-county team from 2011 until 2017.

Fermanagh and Monaghan have also won at this grade in recent years, while Tyrone and Donegal have used the competition as a springboard to climb up hurling's ladder, winning at Nicky Rackard level and competing in the Christy Ring competition.

Derry will join Antrim and Down in the second tier Joe McDonagh Cup competition next season, suggesting Ulster hurling is on an upward trajectory.

However, Maher feels "we can't start talking about championships" until there is genuine depth that can only come with increased participation which they hope will ultimately lead to competitiveness.

Monday's event in Belcoo saw members of Cavan's Shannon Gaels in Blacklion cross the Belcoo River to join their counterparts from the neighbouring county just metres away - both making up the MacNean club which was formed last year to provide hurling and camogie for young members.

Bringing two clubs from bordering counties together is part of the new thinking to grow the game in an area where the caman code had faded.

"It's important every child gets the opportunity to play hurling or camogie, and this is a perfect example, using imaginative techniques with two villages in different counties coming together to play and develop the national game," said GAA president Jarlath Burns.

"We are planting the seed in this club."

'If I can see it, I can be it' is a mantra that rings true for coach Olivia Leonard.

Now it's her son who has caught the bug, so having the option to play has been a major step forward.

"It's lovely the two sides of the border have come together and set up this hurling team after there not being one for a number of years," said the Blacklion native.

"When he [son] was watching the [All-Ireland] hurling final, he was going 'that's going to be me some day'. He hasn't seen much hurling because it's not that big up this side.

"My husband played hurling here in Belcoo years ago and always wanted my son to get into it."

Spreading the hurling gospel in areas where Gaelic football remains dominant is a challenge, with former Antrim hurler Neil McManus accusing some county boards of treating the game as a "nuisance"., external

However, there are prime examples of where parity of both codes can reap rewards.

Recent examples at senior level include Derry's Slaughtneil who have won an All-Ireland club football title and six Ulster hurling titles, while Dunloy in Antrim reached the 2023 All-Ireland club hurling final and last year, won the club's first Antrim senior football title in 89 years.

Former Fermanagh hurler Aaron Magee played both codes and now a coach with MacNean, he feels the growth of hurling can compliment football.

"Our own county, things are going well," he said.

"We have six or seven [hurling clubs] now whereas when I grew up 20 years ago, there were only two or three in Fermanagh.

"I come from a dual club. Lisbellaw is a hurling club and then Maguiresbridge underage [football] and now Belcoo, but I played hurling for Fermanagh and a lot of the hurlers were footballers.

"Hand-eye coordination is different level and I've never met a hurler who is a bad footballer, so the skills go hand in hand."