{"product_id":"old-parish-ciarzan-murphy-9781405973526","title":"Old Parish: Notes on Hurling","description":"\u003cb\u003eShortlisted for The Last Word Listeners' Choice Award, Irish Book Awards 2025\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'No matter if you're a die-hard hurling fanatic or you've never seen a match, \u003ci\u003e Old Parish\u003c\/i\u003e is well worth a read.' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHot Press\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e'Entertaining and thoughtful'\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e Irish Independent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'There aren't enough of these books ... The whole thing is a delight' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMalachy Clerkin, Irish Times \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e--- \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHurling is Ireland's national game - a source of fascination and pride, even to people who have never played it. Ciarán Murphy, a lifelong club footballer, used to be one of those people. Then he spent a summer trying to play hurling with a tiny club in the West Waterford Gaeltacht. Along the way he embarked on a quest to understand the history, geography and mystique of this extraordinary sport. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOld Parish is the club of Ciarán's father, a club where relatives of his are still deeply involved, and possibly the only place brave (or stupid) enough to take on a forty-one-year-old newcomer to the game. Predictably (and at times hilariously), Ciarán finds out just how difficult a sport hurling is to pick up when you're in your sporting dotage, up against men who've played it since childhood. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCiarán also explores why hurling is played in only half the country; he investigates the origins of hurling clubs' antipathy to football and the difficulties of establishing hurling in new areas; he looks into the mysteries of hurley-making; and he seeks to understand why, when a hurling legend refers to the sport as 'the greatest game ever played by any man', he has to be taken seriously. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAnyone who has ever watched hurling knows that it is something unique and extraordinary. \u003ci\u003eOld Parish \u003c\/i\u003eexplains why.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Ciarán Murphy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1405973528\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781405973526\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Penguin UK\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/30\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.81lbs","brand":"Ciarán Murphy","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48621627703551,"sku":"9781405973526","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/old-parish-ciarzan-murphy-9781405973526","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}