Bowling Sport

Irish road bowling is an old and traditional Irish sport. It is centered in Ireland - primarily in County Armagh and County Cork. However, it also has players in Boston, MA,Cambridge, NY, Riverdale, NY, New Zealand and is growing in the fairs and festivals of the State of West Virginia. The first contest in Colborne, Canada was held May 26, 2007.

Road bowling in Ireland is governed by the voluntary Irish Road Bowling Association.

This type of bowling is quite similar to golf. Participants, usually single opponents, throw a 28 ounce (800 g) bowl, usually called a "bullet" along a country road course, up to 4 km long, and the fewest throws to traverse the distance wins the contest.

Participants in or from Ireland traditionally bet during the contest. Those who have bet on a player will follow him/her around the course, giving advice.

It is a sport which suits all ages, although serious participants acquire styles and achieve distances that casual bowlers can only imagine.

A history of the game has been written by the Irish academic, Dr Fintan Lane. Titled Long Bullets: A History of Road Bowling in Ireland (Cork: Galley Head Press, 2005), his book traces the sport to the 17th century and suggests that it was once far more widespread that it is today. Until the 19th century, the game was also played in Scotland, the north of England and in North America.

A 28 ounce iron and steel cannonball the size of a tennis ball (a "bowl" or "bullet") is hurled down a country lane. The player or team with the fewest shots to the finish line wins.

A road shower advises the thrower about the throw (or shot) much like a caddy, whilst another helper stands ahead of the thrower, feet apart, to show the best line or path in the road.

The thrower runs to the throwing mark and, in the Northern or County Armagh style, extends the arm and bowl behind him as he runs. At the throwing mark the arm is snapped forward by arching the back and shoulders, releasing the bowl underhand before stepping over the mark.

In the Southern or County Cork style, as the thrower runs to the mark the arm and bowl are lifted up and back, then whirled downward into an underhand throw, releasing the bowl before stepping over the mark.

Wherever the bowl stops (not where it leaves the road surface), a chalk mark is made at the nearest point on the road and the next throw is taken from behind that mark.

Over tight curves, or corners where two roads meet, the bowl may be thrown through the air (lofted). The loft must strike the road or pass over it. If the loft fails to reach the road, it counts as one shot, and the next throw must be taken again from the same mark.

If two players or teams approach the finish line with equal shots, the winner is decided by which throw goes farthest past the finish line.

Many Irish towns attract thousands of tourist, who just want to understand this interesting, old competition. Growing popularity of this event is even being broadcasted on television!

This game has become almost a cult in the United States, spreading all around the world with huge speed. Bowling has a large history behing it, but we will get to that a bit later.

Bowling is a sport in which players attempt to score points by rolling a bowling ball along a flat surface called the lane into objects called pins. There are many forms of bowling, with the earliest dating back to ancient Egypt, while other instances where bowling was first seen can be traced to ancient Finland and Yemen, and much later in 300 A.D. in Germany.

Great family activity, a game, where you can compete with your friends and have a lot of fun. Bowling is truly a wonderful game, even sport, because numerous amount of comptetitions are taken place every year throughout the world.