LAST UPDATE | 14 Apr 2022
A POPULAR HURLEY maker in Kilkenny suspects that more businesses in their industry are in danger of closing down following the news of Canning Hurleys being forced to shut down after 11 years of service.
David Dowling has been making hurls since he was 14, working at his family-owned business ‘Star Hurley’ at home in Jenkinstown. With the inter-county championships commencing this weekend, this is a busy period for those in his line of work.
For Dowling, ‘Star Hurley’ is “busier than we ever were” through a combination of online and in-shop orders coming from all over the country and even as far abroad as America. Their clientele includes inter-county and club players.
But while their business is in a healthy condition at present, other enterprises such as Canning Hurleys have not been as fortunate. The Portumna-based hurley makers explained in a statement that they are ending operations after 11 years due to the ash dieback disease and issues related to supply.
STATEMENT! pic.twitter.com/P2vCObYotc
— Canning Hurleys (@CanningHurleys) March 24, 2022
As a fellow servant of the trade, Dowling is saddened by that news.
“It’s sad to see anyone go out of it, really,” he tells The42 in a conversation about the current health of the hurley making industry in Ireland.
“You work hard to make hurls and you work hard to supply people with hurls, so when you have to close like that, it’s very sad.
“It is precarious and I suppose you’re depending on suppliers and having ash. Years ago, there was hurling for maybe seven months of the year and hurley makers went to knock their own ash for the other five. And you’d buy some as well to keep your stock up.
“But the way it’s gone now, it’s 12 months of the year really. There’s only so many suppliers as well, I think there’s only five in Ireland.”
Dowling explains that the cost of ash planks have increased in recent times while the rising cost of fuel is also affecting business. This in turn has forced an increase in the cost of hurls, with rates expected to go up again “in the next month or so.”
Remarking on the issue of the ash dieback disease, Dowling describes it as a condition that weakens the immune system of the tree. It hasn’t posed a major threat for Star Hurley yet and Dowling stresses that working with local suppliers of ash is ensuring their survival.
“I know some of our suppliers have gone to look at wood and there’s dieback in it. So it may have affected supply a little bit. And in the medium term, it’s the biggest threat to the supply of ash in Ireland and England.
“The lads we’re working with have a constant supply but it is affecting it. Now, the narrative a few weeks ago was as if the ash dieback had destroyed every tree in the country, which is not the case.”
Dowling continues that while this fungus in ash trees is certainly creating challenges for hurley makers, there are other pressing issues implicating their art form.
These include the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, as well as challenges facing Coillte when trying to obtain tree felling licences.
“An awful lot of hurley makers are getting their timber from the Ukraine,” Dowling begins. “They’re still cutting over there from what I hear and there’s planks ready to go but they can’t get it out of the country over there.
“It coincided with that when the timber supply slowed for a lot of hurley makers. Suppliers were impacted by dieback where you’re paying lads to go over to England, you find dieback in the wood and you go home with nothing.
“You had lockdown as well and people couldn’t get there so there was no supply from England during lockdown, and even after it because had to work out how to get over. They were looking at antigen tests and you’d lose half the day going to a chemist.
“Coillte can’t get felling licenses because they’re being appealed against. Coillte could supply thousands of planks every year and we haven’t heard of Coillte having planks in maybe nine or 10 months.
“It’s frustrating because the ash trees are there and they’re fine. In two and a half years, there probably will be dieback in that timber so it’s frustrating because it’s going to rot.”
Looking to the future, Dowling is confident that his own ash supply lines are in healthy order but there may come a time when an alternative component is required for making hurls.
Dowling believes that bamboo could be the solution as it is a currently a popular choice of hurl among players. He also points to the possibility of making pieced hurls, which is a new hurl with a splice in it and two bands as seen in the picture above.
However, he also believes that all hurley makers should unite to discover a sustainable answer to the problem.
Canning Hurleys have sadly been forced to close its doors, and Dowling expects others will close as problems persist.
“I think if the war in Ukraine continues for a lengthy period, I think you’ll see more closing.
“I suppose the ones who deal with local suppliers have a much better chance of staying open. The demand for ash hurleys is massive.
“I see club teams who won’t hurl until the July or August and they’re back training since January.”
“We’re all members of the Irish guild of ash hurley makers. We should probably be looking through that for alternatives because every hurley maker is part of it. If it’s going to be bamboo or something else, realistically we should look at it with every hurley maker and that they will have access to every bit of research that’s done.
“It’ll be sustainable then and keep people in business if a good alternative is found and there’s good access to it. Buy different types of wood, test them and let every hurley maker have access to the results about what works best.”
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