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The ancient game of road bowling is as exhilarating and competitive today as at any period in a very long, illustrious and colourful history. Forms of bowling can be traced back to the Pharaohs of Egypt. However, the exact origins of Irish Road Bowling are uncertain.
The game itself in its present form began to emerge in the 17th and 18th centuries. Stone bowls and iron bowls were used during this period of transition.
Prior to the structured rules, the game of road bowling was not played over a particular distance, but instead the winner was decided by who could throw the furthest over 20 shots. The term score represented 20 (scor, an Irish word meaning 20) and thus the match was referred to as a score. Around the end of the last century the rules of the game began to resemble those of today. In 1954, the rules were finally formalised and a controlling body was established, when a group under the chair of Flor Crowley set up the organisation as Bol Chumann na hEireann. These initial moves proved to be consequential, in that, they signalled exciting times ahead for road bowling in Ireland.
Prior to 1963 separate championships titled All-Ireland were held in Ulster and Munster. Although, strictly speaking, they were not All-Ireland titles as understood today - winning players were granted the title All-Ireland Champion. In 1963 the two codes got together for the first open All-Ireland Road Bowling Championships.
Information thanks to the book Splitting the Sop, a Bol Chumann na hEireann publication
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