Welcome to my weekly blog,  SATURDAY SESSIONS!

In this blog, for the perusal of all our students, past, present and future, I include an extract from our interactive presentation Course, Ireland and its Culture. We explore and discover  Ireland and its Culture - so that's why I call them 'Logs', as in a ship's (or Star Ship Enterprise's J ) logbook! 

Each Saturday, I hope to post an extract from each of the Logs.

Below each extract, we have a corresponding extract  from the Mining The Text section which focuses on the use of English involved in creating the paragraph.

In our Course, participants sit back and listen first to a recording of the reading, then we read it together, look at how it was created and discuss the content involved!

In the afternoons and evenings, we go out, explore and discover!

If you wish to ask me any question about the text, by the way, just send me an e-mail at greg@bluefeather.ie

An extract from Log 10, IRISH SPORTS

The two most popular Irish sports in Ireland are hurling and Gaelic football. It was one of the two favourite pastimes of the Celts. (The other was horse-racing). Hurling is mentioned in the story of the great legendary hero, Cúchulainn.                                                                                             
It is the fastest field game in the world. The hurley, made of ash, looks a bit like a hockey-stick. The leather ball, known as a sliotar, is about the size of a tennis-ball.                                                                               

There are fifteen players on each team (that includes the unfortunate goalkeeper!) and each half of the game lasts thirty-five minutes. A player can run with the ball on his hurley (or for a few steps with the ball in his hand);  he passes the ball by striking it with his hurley or tapping it to his team-mate with the palm of his hand. To score, he can hit the ball over the cross-bar for one point or into the goal-net for three points. 

Two of the most famous hurling counties in Ireland are Tipperary in Munster and Kilkenny in Leinster. The All-Ireland Final takes place in September every year in Croke Park in Dublin which has a capacity of 83,000 spectators. Visitors to Ireland are usually thrilled to attend a hurling match in Croke Park - if they can get a ticket! - although one often hears the comment: 'The match was great - but I couldn't see the ball!'  

A women's version of hurling is called camogie; it is much the same as hurling.