Episode 3349: Old Parish: Notes On Hurling, Hand In Glove, Thinking Man’s Game

“The greatest game ever played by any man”.

©INPHO/Bryan Keane

What if, at 42 years of age, having spent your entire life playing Gaelic football, you were to take up one of the fastest sports in the world, one that most experts say you need to take up before the age of 7 or 8 if you’re to master the basics, and then write a book about it? Welcome to the live show launch of Murph’s second book, the brilliant Old Parish: Notes On Hurling.

Murph joined Old Parish, a club in the West Waterford Gaeltacht where his father is from, and over the course of a summer finds out just how difficult hurling is and just how much he loves Old Parish. We chat to Murph, Oisin McConville and Jamie Wall about “the glove”, George Plimpton, village life in Ireland, football V hurling, tough love sports psychology, and why hurling is not a thinking man’s game.

Old Parish – Notes On Hurling will be released by Penguin Sandycove on September 18th, and is available to pre-order now – https://linktr.ee/oldparish

“Old Parish – Notes On Hurling” will be released by Penguin Sandycove on September 18th, but it’s available to pre-order right now – https://t.co/Ysrw8ne6LR pic.twitter.com/7FFVFe8qLe

— Ciarán Murphy (@saveciaranmurph) August 26, 2025

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