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FAQ
Games from Ireland

What games are particularly Irish?

Well, we've looked into this and we think that there is a short list that qualify as games from Ireland:

Indoor

• Rings
• Irish Skittles (played with 5 pins)
• Croquet is, of course, supposed to have come from a game called Crookey in Northern Ireland
• Quoits - the Northern Irish play a particular version of the proper clay pit game
• Darts - the Irish have their own Darts board

Historic

• Fichneal or Fidchell was an Irish board game of equal sides played in the early second millenium
• Brandubb is a board game of the Tafl variety (unequal sides) that was played in Medieval times

Outdoor

• Hurling
• Gaelic Football
• Handball. While these days handball is played internationally it grew from a variety of different indigenous handball games from a number of countries, Ireland being one of them. It still has its own rule set played only in Ireland or with GAA clubs in other countries.
• Rounders. The American games Baseball and Softball are both descendants of a game played by Irish immigrants. Today in Ireland it's modern form is called rounders and it's a very popular activity.
• Road bowling is an unusual and exciting version of bowls that it particular to Ireland. It is played with a steal shot, which is tossed under arm by the player down a twisty road. The player who gets to the finish line with the least shots wins. The whole course is called a score. It only really survives in Cork and Armagh, but there are pockets in other countries.

Let us know if you think there's something missing from this list.