Atlantic and Celtic Sports

Welcome to the Eirball GAA World landing (index) page to the All-Time Results and Tables of Celtic and Atlantic Games. It is an ongoing project.

Celtic Games include Scottish Shinty (a Scottish Gaelic version of Hurling), Welsh Baseball (A traditional Welsh and Liverpudlian version of Rounders or Baseball), Manx Cammag (An uncodified version of Hurling from the third Gaelic region: Isle of Man), Cornish Hurling (An uncodified version of Rugby Football from the small British Celtic region), and the Gaelic Athletic Association regions of Galicia GAA (North West Iberia – Spain & Portugal) and Brittany GAA (North West Gaul – France) where 13-v-13 versions of Gaelic Football are played by the Native Galicians and Bretons.

Atlantic Games include Basque Pelota (the Traditional Handball-like sport of the Native People of Southwest France and Northwest Spain which is played using a curved glove), Calcio Fiorentino (The Renaissance Football Game played in Florence, italy to this day), and British Medieval Football (Ancient and Medieval games of Football with no rules or limits on the number of players on a team: Ba’ Game (Uppies & Doonies) in Scotland and Orkney Islands, Uppies & Doonies in Cumbria, Public House v Public House in Lincolnshire, and Shrovetide Football in Derbyshire and Northumberland.

Scottish Shinty

Shinty is Gaelic Scotland’s traditional version of Hurling. It is one of the forgotten Gaelic, Celtic or Atlantic Games like Basque Pelota and Welsh Baseball, played mostly in Gaelic parts of Scotland like the Highlands and Islands. The game is very similar to Hurling, with a curved stick used to hit a ball through a goal, except there is no point-over-the-bar and less play in the air. The game is 12-a-side as opposed to Hurling’s 15-a-side. The Shinty National League Division 1 was the Second Level of Men’s Shinty from 2004 to 2007. Incuded here is Cornish Hurling and Manx Cammag. See also International Rules:

Shinty Matches in Ireland

Shinty Charity Match

Shinty Charity Match:

Irish Shinty Charity Match 2010

Picture Credit: [1] The 42.ie (2019) “17 counties represented in Ireland squad to face Scotland in shinty international” 31 October, 2019 [Internet] Available from: https://www.the42.ie/ireland-scotland-hurling-shinty-squad-4873548-Oct2019/ [Photo Caption]: “Ireland Players Celebrate with the Cup following the 2015 Victory” [Internet] Available from: https://img2.thejournal.ie/article/4873548/river?version=4873574&width=1340 [Accessed 9 April 2020]

Camanachd Association National Leagues

Camanachd Association Senior Leagues 2021; Premier League era 2004-2019; National Premier era 2000-2003

Camanachd Association Premier League (Overviews):

Camanachd Association Shinty National Premier League 2000-2003

Camanachd Association Shinty Premier League 2004-2007

Camanachd Association Shinty Premier Division 2008-2012

Camanachd Association Shinty Premiership 2013-2019

Camanachd Association Senior League (Seasons):

Senior A 2021 Senior B 2021 Shinty C 2021

CA Premiership (Seasons): 2017 2018 2019

Camanachd Association National League (Overviews):

Camanachd Association Shinty National League Division 1 2000-2003

Camanachd Association Shinty National League Division 1 2004-2007

Camanachd Association Shinty National Division 2016-2019

CA National League (Seasons): 2017 2018 2019

Picture Credit: [2] Fort William Facebook Page (2019) Cover Photo, March 9, 2019 [Internet] Available from: https://scontent-dub4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/p960x960/53833633_1188317731329128_7717768416563560448_o.jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=2&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=pW3Jc6uw36MAX_sTZSd&_nc_ht=scontent-dub4-1.xx&tp=6&oh=12aa55908e613341750b6d87d2ba2a82&oe=5FF20BF2 [Accessed 6 December 2020]

Camanachd Associatio Logo

Camanachd Association North Region Leagues

Shinty North Region

Camanachd Association North Division 1 (Overviews):

Camanachd Association Shinty North Division 1 2000-2003

Camanachd Association Shinty North Division 1 2004-2007

Camanachd Association Shinty North Division 1 2016-2019

Camanachd Association North Division 2 (Overviews)

Camanachd Association Shinty North Division 2 2004-2007

Camanachd Association Shinty Marine Harvest North Division 2 2000-2003

CA North Division 1 (Seasons:): 2017 2018

CA North Division 2 (Seasons:): 2017 2018

Logo Refernece: [1] Camanachd Association (2017) Camanachd Association Logo [Internet] https://www.shinty.com/uploads/news-images/_w800fit/camanach-logo-wide.jpg [Accessed 9 March 2018]

Camanachd Associatio Logo

Camanachd Association South Region Leagues

Shinty South

Camanachd Association South Division 1 (Overviews):

Camanachd Association Shinty South Division 1 2000-2003

Camanachd Association Shinty South Division 1 2004-2007

Camanachd Association Shinty South Division 1 2016-2019

Camanachd Association South Division 2 (Overviews):

Camanachd Association Shinty Marine Harvest South Division 2 2000-2003

CA South Division 1 (Seasons): 2017 2018

CA South Division 2 (Seasons): 2017 2018

Logo Reference: [1] Camanachd Association (2017) Camanachd Association Logo [Internet] https://www.shinty.com/uploads/news-images/_w800fit/camanach-logo-wide.jpg [Accessed 9 March 2018]

Camanachd Associatio Logo

Camanachd Association Cups

Camanachd Association Cups

CA Camanachd Cup (Seasons): 2017

CA Macauley Cup (Seasons): 2017

CA Sutherland Cup (Seasons): 2017

Other Cups (Annual Challenge Cups)

Camanachd Association Shinty Lovat Cup 2016-2020

Logo Reference: [1] Camanachd Association (2017) Camanachd Association Logo [Internet] https://www.shinty.com/uploads/news-images/_w800fit/camanach-logo-wide.jpg [Accessed 9 March 2018]

Women’s Camanachd Association

WCA

Women’s Camanachd Association National Division 1 (Overviews):

Women’s Camanachd Association Shinty National Division 1 2004-2005

Women’s Camanachd Association National Division 1 2016-2018

PIcture Credit: Willie Urquhart: [6] West Highland Free Press (2018) SKYE-CAMANACHD-LADIES-LEAGUE-WINNERS-18-1 [Internet] Available from: https://www.whfp.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/SKYE-CAMANACHD-LADIES-LEAGUE-WINNERS-18-1.jpg%5BAccessed 22 November 2020]

Camanachd Associatio Logo

Scottish Universities Shinty

Scottish Universities Shinty

Shinty Universities (Overviews)

Scottish Universities Shinty Men’s Division 2009-2011

Logo Reference: [1] Camanachd Association (2017) Camanachd Association Logo [Internet] https://www.shinty.com/uploads/news-images/_w800fit/camanach-logo-wide.jpg [Accessed 9 March 2018]

Welsh Baseball

Welsh Baseball is a version of Rounders played primarily in South Wales, and also in Liverpool, where it is known as English Baseball. It is like a cross between Baseball, Rounders and Cricket. During the latter half of the 19th Century, the famous A.G. Spalding of Major League Baseball fame organised a Baseball Tour of England and Ireland, and in the process played a number of games against English and Welsh Rounders teams, who adopted some of the rules (such as tagging a playerout with the ball and two-handed batting). It kept the poles rather than flat bases and left the diamond in an irregular shape with all four sides unequal in length. Welsh Baseball also has a bat more like a Cricket Bat than a Baseball Bat, and it tapers towards the handle. According to sources in referenced in the articles below, Irish immigrants to Liverpool and South Wales were numerous among the Working Classes playing the game in the 20th Century. It is still played in South Wales and Liverpool but is now mostly a Children’s and Teenagers Game.

Welsh Ladies Baseball Union

Wrlsh Ladies Baseball Union

WLBU Premier Divison Overviews:

Welsh Ladies Baseball Union Premier Division 2012-2018

WLBU Division 1 Overviews:

Welsh Ladies Baseball Union Division 1 2012-2018

white baseball ball on brown leather baseball mitt

Welsh Baseball Union

Welsh Baseball Union

WBU Premier Division (Overviews):

Welsh Baseball Union Premier Division 2012-2014

Picture Credit: Pexels Free Photos

Manx Cammag

a man wearing red jacket doing peace sign

Manx Cammag

Manx Cammag; Cornish Hurling;

Picture Credit: pexels.com

Cornish Hurling

Every Shrove Tuesday in St. Columb’s, Cornwall, the game of Hurling is played between ‘Town’ and ‘Country’. The night before resembles a ghost town as all the shops are boarded up and shuttered before the game is played the next day. There are no limits to the numbers of players in the game, with each player playing for either the ‘Town’ or ‘Country’. The game kicks off with the words “Town and Country do your best. but in this parish I must rest.”.

Traditionally, the game was played between the men of St. Columb, but is now played by the children. [3] The Game can last a few minutes or it can last hours depending on how quickly the winning team can get the ball to the goal. The winning player who carries the ball to the goal has the option of keeping the ball and paying for a new one by a local craftsman. The ball is constructed traditionally, out of silver with an applewood core, taken from a local orchard.

References: [1] BBC Cornwall (2003) Hurling at St. columb in the 21st Century [Internet] Available from; http://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/villages/stories/stcolumb_hurling.shtml [Accessed 7 March 2018]

[3] St. Ives Web Community TV (2013) The St. Ives Feast and the Silver Ball [Internet] Available from: https://web.archive.org/web/20130819100810/http://stivestv.co.uk/whatson/feast_day_2013.htm [Accessed 13 June 2019]

The Hurlers Bronze Age stone circle at Minions near Liskeard Cornwall England UK Europe

Copyright: ianwool

Cornish Hurling

Manx Cammag; Cornish Hurling;

Cornish Hurling (Hurling the Silver Ball):

Galicia GAA

Within Europe GAA, there are two Countries / Regions where the Gaelic Football is played entirely by Natives in small towns and villages like in Ireland: Brittany (NW France) and Galicia (NW Iberia – Spain/Portugal). These two Celtic Countries both have Men’s and Women’s Leagues played on a weekly basis, rather than in tournaments like in the other World Games Counties.

Asociacion Galega de Futbol Gaelico [References: 2]

[2] Asociacion Galega de Futbol Gaelico – Blogspot (2017) Asociacion Galega de Futbol Gaelico Logo [Internet] Available from: https://eirball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/73e5b-repolo.png [Accessed 27 August 2017]

Galician Gaelic Football League – Liga Galega de Fútbol Gaélico

AGFG – Liga Galega de Fútbol Gaélico Men’s Division 1

Galicia GAA Galician Gaelic Football League Men’s Division 1 2013-2019

AGFG – Liga Galega de Fútbol Gaélico Men’s Division 2

Galicia GAA Galician Gaelic Football League Men’s Division 2 2015-2017

Brittany GAA

Within Europe GAA, there are two Countries / Regions where the Gaelic Football is played entirely by Native Bretons in small towns and villages like in Ireland: Brittany (NW France) and Galicia (NW Iberia – Spain/Portugal). These two Celtic Countries both have Men’s and Women’s Leagues played on a weekly basis, rather than in tournaments like in the other World Games Counties.

Lig Breizhat Mell-droad Gouezelek Logo [References: 2]

[2] Brittany GAA Facebook (2011) Profile Picture, December 6, 2011 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=156933231073148&set=a.156578797775258 [Accessed 12 November 2020]

Lig Breizhat Mell-droad Gouezelek – Ligue Bretonne de Football Gaelique

Brittany GAA Lig Breizhat Mell-droad Gouezelek – Ligue Bretonne de Football Gaelique (Overviews)

Brittany GAA Brittany Gaelic Football League Men 2011-2014

Brittany GAA Brittany Gaelic Football League Men Division 1 2015-2019

Basque Pelota

Pelota is the Traditional Game of the Basque People of Sourthwest France and North Central Iberia (Spain). Their language is the oldest in Europe, and the only non-Indo-European language left in Western Europe according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and therefore with some justification the Basques refere to themselves as the only Native Europeans. The sport is similar to the GAA and European game of Handball, played with a curved glove which is used to propel the ball off one of two perpendicluar walls on a four-sided court, with the other two sides open (Jai Alai). Another version is played in pairs (Parejas) or singles (Manomanista) with the hand (Mano)

Man during a Jai-alai game, typical sport in Basque Country, Spain and some countries of Latin America

Picture Credit: By Ricardo Hernandez / www.shutterstock.com [Internet] Available from: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/man-during-jaialai-game-typical-sport-369691925 [Accessed 2 June 2021]

ASPE Pelota (Basque Country)

ASPE Pelota;

ASPE Pelota is the Professional Hand Pelota (Manomanista) of the Spanish Basque Country. There are both Singles (Campeonato Manomanista – Hand Pelota Championship) and Pairs (Campeonato de Parejas). Divisions are Lep.M (Premier – Tier 1) Promoción (Promotion – Tier 2)

ASPE Pelota (Basque Country)

Campeonato Cuatro y Medio (4 & 1/2) Finals:

ASPE Pelota Campeonato Cuatro y Medio de Lep.M 2000-Present

ASPE Pelota Lep.M Hand Pelota Championship (Campeonato Manomanista Lep.M) (Seasons):

2019

ASPE Pelota Lep.M Pairs Championship (Campeonato de Parejas de la Lep.M) (Seasons):

2021

copyright: www.pexels.com

FFPB Pilote Basque (Biarritz-France)

FFPB Pilote Basque

FFPB Pilote Basque (Biarritz)

FFPB Pilote Basque Fronton (Overviews):

FFPB Pilote Basque Fronton Place Libre Pala Championnat de France Nationale A Group A 2015-2018

FFPB Pilote Basque Trinquet (Overviews):

FFPB Pilote Basque Trinquet Paleta Pilote de Cuir Championnat de France National A Groupe A 2015-2019

[References: see Encyclopedia Brittanica sections on Indo-European, Celtic, and Afro-Asiatic languages: Encyclopedia Britannica | Britannica ]

Calcio Fiorentino

This is the Eirball – GAA World / Irish North American and World Sports Archive landing page for Calcio Storico Fiorentino, one of the earliest forms of organised football in the world, and which bears a striking resemblance in play to Gaelic Football, as well as a shared Atlantic heritage in a pre-Roman/pre-English, pre-Catholic Rennaisance or Revival. To view results of Calcio Fiorentino just click on the links in red/blue (purple) below the introduction.

Calcio Storico Fiorentino is a Renaissance Football game first played in Florence (Fiorentina), Tuscany in the 1400s by workers on breaks from work in the city. It was the first organised football in the world, rather than the Medieval mob football which preceeded it and where there were no rules or restrictions on numbers playing. It could be seen as part of the wider Renaissance whereby Tuscany’s ancient pre-Roman, pre-Catholic past was brought back.

[References: [4] Calcio Storico Fiorentino Sito Ufficiale (2020) CALCIO STORICO FIORENTINO [Internet] Available from: http://calciostoricofiorentino.it/?q=calcio-storico-fiorentino [Accessed 4 August 2020] and [5] Calcio Storico Fiorentino Sito Ufficiale (2020) Studies & Documentation [Internet] Available from: http://www.calciostoricofiorentino.it/?q=studi_e_documentazione [Accessed 4 August 2020]

Medieval British Football

FLORENCE – JUN 24: Fighting players during Calcio Fiorentino match on June, 24,2012. Calcio fiorentino (calcio storico or calcio in costume) is an historic florentine game, origins of modern football

By mkistryn www.123rf.com

Calcio Fiorentino

Calcio Storico Fiorentino (Overviews):

Calcio Storico Fiorentino Finals 1952-Present

Calcio Storico Fiorentino (Seasons):

2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010

Calcio Storico Fiorentino August Festival (Seasons):

2012

*The Tuscan language (Etruscan) is one which predates the Latin arrival in the Italian peninsula, and even though the letters and sounds are known there is no knowledge of the word meanings as no document translating Etruscan to Latin or Greek has ever been found. It does, however, sound similar to Basque, and therefore could be incuded in the Celtic sports section as part of the “Atlantic” or “Black Atlantic” family along with the Celtic languages, Basque and Berber (Tamashek) – half the words in the Gaelic language are of an Indo-European origin (Greek, Latin, Germanic, Slavic etc)and half of a North African Afro-Asiatic origin (Berber, Tuareg, Maltese, Hebrew, Arab etc).

[References: see Encyclopedia Brittanica sections on Indo-European, Celtic, and Afro-Asiatic languages: Encyclopedia Britannica | Britannica ]

Ancient & Medieval British Football

According to later legend Celtic Britons played the Romans at a game of Football in Derbyshire on Shrove Tuesday AD 217 after a battle. These games of Football had no formal rules, or numbers per side and are also known as Medieval or Mob Football with the objective usually to get the ball back to a base at either your own teams end or the opposing teams. Variations on the theme include Uppies & Downies (those living up the hill versus those living down the hill) and Town versus Country. These sports are also known in Continental Europe. In Britain these days they are mainly played in the Celtic fringes of England and Scotland: Cornish Hurling in Cornwall, Manx Cammag in the Isle of Man, Orkney Ba Game in the Orkney Islands, Shaking the Hales in Northumberland, Uppies & Downies in Cumbria, and the Shrovetide Game in Derbyshire. Other games include Eton Fives, a version of Handball first played in the Middle Ages by Peasants against the Church Walls at Eton College, with a handrail providing an obstacle down one side.

Royalty-free stock photo ID: 1275324475
Haxey,Lincolnshire,UK. January 05th 2019.The ancient game of Haxey hood took place today,two villages do battle for the leather hood,Ahead of the game the Haxey fool is smoked while giving speeches.
I
By Ian Francis

Medieval British Football

Scottish Ba’ Game. English Shrovetide Football,

Scottish Ba’ Game

English Shrovetide Football

Other English Football Games

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