The knob of wood must conform to the bend of the business end while still providing a solid handle of the necessary length and heft. Not just any ash tree can make the cut.
It seems as if some ash tree owners are oblivious to this grand honor. They've taken a hurley-loving woodsman to court and won their case.
John Keene says he had permission to harvest eight of the mature ash trees he felled in the private woods owned by Declan Ganley near Tuam in Galway. The founder of the Libertas Party, who worked like a demon to promote a "NO" vote on the EU's Lisbon Treaty, firmly denied that he gave permission. Not only that, but he certainly wouldn't be giving the valuable wood away for free, in exchange for a hurley carved from his ash tree.
Judge Groarke wasn't having any of Mr. Keene's excuses, including the defendant's claim that he wouldn't have travelled all the way from Tipperary to Galway is he didn't have prior approval for logging.
It's possible, of course, that some farmers let Mr. Keene cut down ash trees on their land and were happy for the hurley, but Mr. Ganley is evidently not so enamored of hurling as all that. He's upset over the loss of the trees which cannot be replaced.
As punishment, Mr. Keene has lost his driving privileges, with the idea being that he can't travel around and haul away his ill-gotten ash gains without a proper license. He doesn't have the money it would take to reimburse Mr. Ganley for the price of the wood, so about all the judge can do is immobilize the mighty woodsman.
Who could just ask a mate for a lift the next time he sets off in pursuit of the magical ash that holds within its wooden folds the perfect hurley that will bring victory and honor to its possessor.
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