of the game in Ireland comes from an English visitor, John Dunton, in 1698, who compared it with the English game of Pall-mall. Teams of 10, 12 or 20 players would hit or carry a ball of animal hair with curved sticks, the aim being to pass it through a hoop in the opponents' area. The first to do so wins. This was often played as a challenge match between different parishes or baronies, and was frequently attended with injuries taken in good part. 18th century At this time there were two distinct versions of a game of ball and stick. In the northern part of Ireland, it was called camán (English: commons), and played in the winter. A hard wooden ball, or crag, was struck with a narrow wooden stick, but could not be handled (as in modern shinty). In the southern parts the game was called iomán or báire and played in summer. The ball, or sliothar was made of animal hair, and could be handled or carried on a wider stick (hurl) than used in the north. The northern game was one of the common people, but the southern game was largely organized by the landlords who provided the hurling greens, picked the teams, typically of 21, and competed against each other for wagers. The game would often be part of much larger entertainment such as fairs and other competitions, and the gentry even participated with their own teams. Crowds of up to 10,000 attended. This region was conveniently supplied with dry level terrain and many ash trees, which became the favoured wood for hurls. The Eighteenth Century has been referred to as "The Golden Age of Hurling." There were also inter-county hurling matches. The memoirs of Sydney, Lady Morgan, Volume 1, page 41, state-In the early 18th century the hurling matches in the provinces were the Olympic games of ould Ireland; the athletes of Connaught would challenge the rival hurlers of Munster. County against county, but more frequently Bally against Bally came forth in mutual and picturesque defiance. The first ladies of the neighbourhood frequently presided as umpires; whilst the combatants, whose chief claims were their personal prowess, enlisted in their ranks young men of the first families, as well as the prime youth and manhood of the "mere Irishry". Early in the last century, a celebrated hurling match took place in Connaught, sustained by the