Irish Road Bowling Is A Sport You Can Play In West Virginia

Way back in the 1600s, a new sport came to the country of Ireland: road bowling. This unique activity is exactly what it sounds like: bowling… down rural roads. Some say the Dutch soldiers brought it to Ireland. Others say Irish patriots invented it (using cannon balls!). Either way, the sport stuck… and spread throughout Ireland.

But road bowling isn't just something you can play in Ireland. It's a game you can play right here in West Virginia.

In fact, it's likely it was played here in the 1800s by Irish-American soldiers during the Civil War, and then lost to time and modernity. Thankfully, Irish Road Bowling was rediscovered in the 1990s, when residents of Ireland, West Virginia brought back six road bowling balls (road bowls) as souvenirs from their visit to the country of Ireland.

The organizers of the town's annual Irish Spring Festival experimented with the road bowls, loved them, and promptly ordered fourteen more from Ireland (the country) for use in the first modern official Irish Road Bowling score (the term for an Irish Road Bowling match) in West Virginia, which took place in the spring of 1995.

Fast forward to today: Ireland, West Virginia is now the Irish Road Bowling capital of the United States.

Which is oddly fitting, if you think about it, since Irish road bowling requires two things: a connection to Ireland and access to a beautiful, rural country road. And those are exactly the two things that Ireland, West Virginia is famous for.

How exactly do you play Irish Road Bowling, anyway? In Irish Road Bowling, a small iron and steel ball (much smaller than an American bowling ball and much more like the size of a cannonball) is hurled down a one-to-two-mile course along the surface of a rural road.

The unique twists, turns, and tilt of the given country road only add to the fun (or mishaps!), as does each player's elaborate strategies and throwing poses.

If lobbing a heavy ball down a country road sounds like just the sort of new and interesting stress relief you've been searching for (it really is quite fun!), then a good place to start is by watching a score at the Celtic Calling Festival in Charleston, West Virginia or at the Irish Spring Festival in Ireland, West Virginia.

You can find details about the Irish Road Bowling events available in West Virginia as well as other opportunities to play around the Mountain State at the West Virginia Irish Road Bowling website or the West Virginia Irish Road Bowling Facebook Page (yes, there really is an organization devoted exclusively to road bowling in West Virginia). This organization also sells road bowling equipment. Don’t miss the chance to try this fun new (but actually very old) sport in West Virginia!

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Ireland, WV 26376, USA

Irish Road Bowling Is The Oldest Sport You've Never Heard Of, And You Can Play It In West Virginia

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