History of Irish Road Bowling

Irish Long Bullets Road Bowling

Irish road bowling can be traced back to the 1600s. One story is that Dutch soldiers brought it when William of Orange came to Ireland in 1689. Another legend says that Irish patriots robbed English cannonballs and rolled them down a country lane by the light of a full moon.
County Armagh in the north and County Cork in the south became strongholds of this rural sport, each independently developing their own distinctive hurling style. The first noted "score" (match) between Cork and Armagh was the September 1928 meeting on the Knappagh Road, Armagh, between winner Timmy Delaney, Cork, and Peter "The Hammerman" Donnelley, Armagh, before 10,000 spectators.
After hundreds of years of localized bowling, Bol Chumann na hEireann (Road Bowling of Ireland), today's governing organization, was formed in County Cork in 1954. The first "All Irelands" (national championships) between Armagh in the north and Cork in the south were held in 1963. Over 20,000 spectators filled the 3-mile Moy Road Course, Armagh, to see Danny McPartland of Armagh win over Derry Kenny, Cork, on the final shot by just 11 yards.
In 1969, the first international championships were held in Losser, the Netherlands, in three disciplines - Irish Road Bowling, Dutch Moors Bowling, and German Lofting.
- Road Bowling in Ireland by Brian Toal

West Virginia Irish Road Bowling

In 1994, Marie (Burns) Powell, who had been raised on Green Hill above Ireland, WV, traveled with her son, David, to the Country of Ireland. There, in Cork City at Sheehan's Hardware Store, they purchased six Irish road bowls to bring back to West Virginia for the next year's Irish Spring Festival. A practice match on February 19, 1995, played by "Buzz" Denton King, Sharrey Craig, Beckey Posey, Don Gain, Ken Wood, and other Irish Spring Festival volunteers, confirmed that this strange sport was a lot of fun. The course, Wildcat Road to Duffy Bridge, was 2.2 miles long. Fourteen more road bowls were imported from Ireland.
On March 18, 1995, the first official Irish road bowling "score" (match) was played in West Virginia since the American Civil War. Four teams competed, and nine road bowls were lost that first match. The first champions were the mighty Salem Shooters, Aaron Helmick, Bob Blagg, David Powell, and Brad Carmichael. These heroes soon became legendary figures in the history of West Virginia Irish road bowling. So thoroughly did they demolish their opponents that they were inspired to retire undefeated, legends forever!

American Civil War in West Virginia

Irish troops marched over rugged hills and into deep hollers, cutting their way through vast rhododendron thickets all over what is now West Virginia during the Civil War, 1861-1865.
In 2004, Dan Harvey, Commandant of the Military Museum, Collins Barracks, Cork City, Ireland, wrote: "YES, it is highly likely, indeed probable, that Union or Confederate troops of Irish origin played road bowling as a diversion between battles during the American Civil War - as they did worldwide ... with many foreign armies."
In 1861, the 10th Ohio, formed in Cincinnati from Irish militia, with Captain T.J. Kelly, fought at the battle of Carnifex Ferry Landing near Keslers Cross Lanes in West Virginia.
For the North, the 23rd Illinois Infantry, Mulligan's Irish Brigade, which is mostly policemen and firemen from Chicago, built Fort Mulligan overlooking Petersburg and stayed there for many months guarding the B & O railroad. For their health and safety, they probably played more on the roads to the North. While protecting Clarksburg and Parkersburg from Confederate troops under Imboden and Jones, the 23rd Illinois marched over our bowling road, Old Rt. 50, near West Union. In 1863, 80 Irishmen from Mulligan's Irish Brigade, defending Greenland Gap, Hardy County, held a farmhouse for twelve hours against superior Confederate forces, until it was set afire and the roof caved in.
For the South, the 33rd Virginia Infantry, Company E, the Emerald Guard, Irish laborers, and farmers from Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, was part of Stonewall Jackson's famous Stonewall Brigade and they skedaddled Yankees in what is now West Virginia's eastern panhandle.

We did not start a new sport in 1995 in West Virginia; we just restored one that had vanished. As we throw small cannonballs down the road this weekend, let’s keep in the mind’s eye all young men, including big-hearted Irish soldiers from the North and South, who played here in days gone by.