PERIODIC PHOTOGRAPH  
I will display different photographs here at fairly regular intervals.

Camogie.
(It is almost the same as our National game of hurling, but is only played by the ladies).
Here we see a young lady from the Ferns team taking a "sideline cut".

This is a camogie match that we (my family and I) went to see in the Wexford town of Ferns. My wife is from this area and on this day two of her sisters were playing on the Ferns team. As luck (good or bad) would have it the opposing team were from ..... Bunclody!

I never had such a confusing time in all my life. I wanted my home team from Bunclody to win and cheered them on. Then when either of my sister's-in-law got possession of the ball, I felt compelled to shout for them, not least because my wife was standing close by. My wife's earlier expressed difficulty about which team she would shout for (cheer)  disappeared immediately after the referees starting whistle sounded. My children were in the same confused state as myself and more of less followed my confused cheering and then laughed at their spontaneous changing of allegiance, depending on who had the ball.

It was even more amazing to see the reaction of the nearby supporters who watched all of our bewildering cheering. I think that I managed quite well and in the end I neither had a quarrel with my in-laws, wife or Bunclody team. Oh yeah! Bunclody won, but I couldn't crow about it. Discretion being the better part of valour.

Here two players tussle over possession of the ball (on the left)

As can be seen, some of the the players wear protective helmets. They are not compulsory but they give a high level of protection. Some players complain that they restrict vision slightly and therefore don't wear them.

Here a player from the Bunclody side is about to pick up the ball.

The only way of picking up the ball is to use the hurley (the hockey-like stick) spoon-like to scoop up the ball into ones hand and then strike it baseball-like in the direction of the opponents goal. It is amazing the see the ease with which these skilful players can accomplish these difficult tasks.

Here a Ferns player has the ball in her hand and is trying to put some distance between her pursuers before striking the ball.

This player can only run a limited few steps with the ball in her hand before having to transfer it to the boss of the hurley. Once the ball is balanced on the hurley there is no limit to the distance a player can run, but having the ball in this precarious place leaves it open to being "robbed" by a player of the opposing team.