Scotland will play a team from Dublin in a ten minute exhibition match of a difference following the Marine Harvest Shinty / Hurling International first test between Ireland and Scotland at Croke Park on Saturday 26 October 2013.
Scotland and Ireland have competed in challenge matches involving a mix of shinty and hurling for over 120 years and it is believed to be the only cross-codes competition of its kind in the world.
However officials have returned to the origins of both sports to develop a new hybrid game called Iomain - one of the Gaelic words for both shinty and hurling - which will go on show in front of a packed Croke Park ahead of the International Rules Football second test match between Ireland and Australia.
Players from both sides will use specially designed universal sticks and play to a specific set of rules for the first time.
Shinty is played with a caman which is a thinner wedged club evolved for ground play while the hurley is a flatter bladed stick designed for aerial hitting.
The stick which will be used in Saturday’s demonstration has been developed by highland caman producer, Alan MacPherson, Kiltarlity in conjunction with Irish hurley maker, Michael Barron.
The bottom third of the stick will be the same dimension and design for both teams with the design and length of handle being optional.
In a further shift from modern composite rules, only goals will count rather than hits over the cross-bar which is a significant departure for the Irish.
The idea has been developed by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland in conjunction with the Camanachd Association in Scotland, with the Irish seeking to reintroduce the forgotten art of ground hurling.
And although Iomain may not immediately suit all the purists, officials on both sides of the Irish Sea believe it could spread beyond traditional country boundaries and it meets a GAA aim to introduce a game of ground hurling around the world. Indeed hurling teams from Leister and Munster competed for the GAA / GPA Celtic Champions Classic 11-a-side hurling tournament in the famous University of Notre Dame last weekend.
Iomain is the root source from which both Gaelic stick and ball games descended although the game has evolved differently on either side of the Irish Sea.
The first recorded Shinty / Hurling challenge between Scots and Irish was in 5th Century AD but the first recognised mixed rules game was at Celtic Park, Glasgow in 1897.
Since then, an agreed set of compromise rules have enabled the two nations to face each other on a regular basis, although never with the same stick.
Pat Daly, Director of Gaelic Games at The GAA says a re-unified game could be popular wherever Scots and Irish expats have settled in the world.
“Ground hurling was a big part of the game in Ireland right up to the 1980s and 1990s but is pretty redundant now.
“We felt it was incumbent on both countries to look at the sport’s origins and take it back to the essence of both games.
“Having one stick would also enable us to potentially internationalise the sport. We recently had hurling teams over to Ireland from Argentina, Indianapolis and Milwaukee and Iomain would have broad appeal in places like this.”
Shinty historian Dr Hugh Dan MacLennan feels it is only right to look at the development of the cross-codes game.
“It is certainly worth assessing and has value as a trial. One of the issues has always been about finding a truly level playing field and if you can’t do it by the scoring system, then looking at the equipment seems logical.”