The new season of Clare Museum’s Lecture Series continues on Wednesday, November 13th at 7.30pm, with a talk by Clodagh Doyle entitled ‘Ancient Hurling Balls made of Hair in the National Museum of Ireland’.
The predecessor of the sliotar, these balls of matted cow hair with a plaited horsehair covering were the hurling balls used centuries ago. To date, only 14 examples have been found, all in peat bogs, and Clodagh will share the stories that each of these balls associated with our national game tell us. Ms Doyle’s talk will be based on her published works, ‘Hair hurling balls: review, research and scientific investigations’, and ‘Hair of the Bog’.
Clodagh Doyle has been working with the Irish Folklife Collection of the National Museum of Ireland since 1995 and is now based at Turlough Park, Castlebar, County Mayo, the fourth site of the National Museum of Ireland. She has a degree in Irish Folklore and Archaeology and her MA thesis is on Traditional Hearth Furniture. She played a pivotal role in the inception, development and installation of the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life and the move of the Irish Folklife Collection to its new store and galleries in Mayo in 2001.
She curated many of the permanent gallery displays at the NMI – Country Life and also curated over 30 temporary exhibitions, two of which, ‘Down Memory Lane’ and ‘Hair Hurling Balls’ have travelled throughout Ireland. With a love for folklore, ethnology, objects and the museum, Clodagh was appointed Keeper of the Irish Folklife Division in 2020.
Admission is free of charge but there is likely to be a high level of interest in the talk, so those attending are asked to book a seat in advance by emailing: claremuseum@clarecoco.ie Telephone bookings will not be accepted.
The Lecture Series will continue at Clare Museum on the second Wednesday of each month, until May 2025. Upcoming topics include ‘The Alitalia Disaster at Shannon Airport’, ‘The archaeology of Skellig Michael’, ‘The archaeology of caves in the Burren’, and much more.
Visit www.claremuseum.ie for further information.