Hurling Is Alive and Well in Monaghan

By Maitiú Monaghan

At last year's Ploughing Championships, a hurley maker was giving a sermon explaining that the reason there is “no hurling” in Ulster is because our ancestors couldn't afford hurls.

Like all things in Irish society, his theory came back to agriculture and colonisation- the original dual players.

The story goes that Monaghan's “Stony Grey Soil” made farmwork harder than it was in the nutrient dense fields of Tipperary and Kilkenny.

With limited resources, and without the benefit of an EU grant, farmers in this part of the world had neither the time nor money to play hurling.

Someone with an Antrim-y twang reminded him of the story Cú Chulainn, hero and champion of Ulster, who famously killed that poor dog with a hurl and sliotar.

It was also suggested that hurling probably came to Ireland through the links with Ulster-Scots and Shinty, not from the Norman invasion of Wexford.

These theories were casually brushed aside. The Brits, one farmer shouted, wouldn't let “ye” play hurling anyway.

The scene played on my mind this week when the Hurling Expert Advisory Group's interim report landed in my inbox.

It is an easy read, with a large chunk spent discussing the handpass, and the difference between a throw and a flick.

Skimming through the various rule-changes, the report took an interesting turn.

It cites a public survey which found “the gap between the traditional and developing hurling counties was rated the single greatest problem facing the game”.

Which isn't exactly a ground-breaking discovery.

A fortnight ago in the Monaghan Hurling semi-finals, Niall Arthur hit 2-15 of Inniskeen's 2-16 against Blayney in a gallant loss for the Grattans. His brother scored Inniskeen's other point.

Arthur is a two-time All-Ireland u21 winning hurler with Clare, he played on the same team as Tony Kelly. A couple of years ago he moved to Inniskeen, where he has become an integral player for his adopted club and county.

The Clare man is, to the naked eye, the most talented hurler in Monaghan, rivalled only by Castleblayney's Thomas Hughes- an insanely skilful hurler who this year chose to play with the county footballers, instead of the hurlers.

Pondering this, I was then shocked and saddened to read the Hurling Expert Advisory Group's finding that the game is “effectively dying” in its birthplace of Ulster.

The survey described a systemic pattern in which football clubs actively discourage dual players, while county boards prioritise football in the allocations of resources.

In Sunday's SHC Final, Hughes scored 1-2, firing off an early goal, where he pounced on a loose ball, and rifled it into the net.

You would wonder if anyone really believes that an Ulster County will win an All-Ireland in the next 100 years? Antrim maybe?

If success means winning the Liam McCarthy cup, then Monaghan are doomed to begin with- Sam Maguire causes us enough problems.

That doesn't mean there is no room for growth- Latton won their first ever JHC Final on Sunday.

They didn't write themselves into the history books by flaunting the handpass rule just to disgruntle the Hurling Expert Advisory Group.

Instead, they came from behind against Clontibret, clawing their way back into the game before, in true hurling fashion, winning the thing right at the death.

In the Senior decider were Truagh, who won back-to-back JHC titles in 2024 and 2025.

The north Monaghan club have never won the SHC, but have lost in four finals 2019, 2020 and last year- and now this year.

However, this is as close as they've ever gotten to winning it- losing by just six points to Blayney in Sunday's decider at Gavan Duffy Park.

Meanwhile, Blayney, who continue to get better and better, will go on to compete for provincial glory once again with ambitions of bringing another medal back to south Monaghan.

The Faughs dominance of Monaghan hurling in recent years was up-ended only by a Niall Arthur inspired Inniskeen three years ago. That shock defeat forced them to improve, forced them to get better.

As a result, hurling across the county improved too.

It didn't take countless dossiers from the Co. Board, although greater supports from Cloghan are always welcome.

Hurling is surviving and growing in small communities like Latton and Truagh though the will of small groups of well-intentioned people- swimming against the overwhelming tide of football in a one-sport county.

In recent years Monaghan hurling improved because a Clare-man moved to Inniskeen and the whole eco-system changed.

When the dust began to settle on Latton's JHC win, the club posted on social media, a screenshot from their own page in April 2018: “Latton take to the hurling field for the first time in many years. We are indebted to Gabriel McQuillian and Jamie Black, who have taken on the challenge of reviving hurling in Latton.

“Good luck to our u11 team tomorrow evening.”