Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael, Iarlaith Ó Broin, sa lár. Ó chlé Cormac Ludon, Cnoc Bhríde, Lú, Ruairí Ó Mianáin, Doire, Shane Flanagan, Stiúrthóir Cluichí agus Cóistseála CLG, Iománaí Shligigh, Tony O'Kelly-Lynch, Iománaí Lú Paddy Lynch agus iománaí óg de chuid Chnoc Bhríde, Lú, Cian Fehily, le linn sheoladh 'Táin Óg' agus 'Chú Chulainn i bPáirc an Chrócaigh. Grianghraf ó Ben McShane/Sportsfile
By John Harrington
The 2024 Táin Óg Hurling League commences this weekend when the U-16 competition gets under way.
What began solely as an U-13 competition now has three age-groups – U-14, U-16, U-18 – with the player pathway completed by the rapidly growing Cúchulainn hurling league for adult club hurlers which began in 2022.
The genius of the Táin Óg and Cúchulainn Leagues is that they wipe away county and provincial boundaries and give clubs in developing counties a greater number of meaningful matches than they could possibly have from playing teams within their own county bounds.
Newly appointed GAA President, Jarlath Burns, has made growing the number of hurling clubs in Ireland one of the priorities of his three-year term, and is hugely enthusiastic about the Táin Óg League.
“Over 100 clubs from 15 counties are taking part, including our own club, Craobh Rua, and I know from talking to the people in our club that there's great excitement about it,” said Burns today.
“It's all about giving people from those counties a chance to play hurling, and for many of those counties it's their premier hurling competition.”
Louth GAA’s Hurling Games Development Administrator and senior inter-county team star, Paddy Lynch, has seen first-hand the huge benefits that come from cross-county club hurling competitions like the Táin Óg and Cúchulainn Leagues.
His own club, St. Fechin’s, are reigning Cúchulainn League champions and have had some very memorable days in the Táin Óg League too.
“There's huge interest in hurling in Louth amongst kids but the problem is repetition,” says Lynch.
"When they're playing the same teams over and over again there's no real incentive to keep playing and you don't develop the same skills when you're playing the same hurlers because you know each other's different traits.
“But then when you're going outside the county and you're playing different teams and coming up against new players, it's bringing you on to another level as a hurler, and it's just a new level of excitement as well.
“My club St. Fechin's reached a Táin Óg Final and it's a real Gala day when you get there. It was played in Breffni Park and they came out to music and name announcements and there was a medal presentation afterwards so it was a day they'll always remember.
“Competitions like the Táin Óg League are exactly how we should be growing the game - regionally - whereby we get games outside of our own counties and support one another.”