Former All-Star Peter Duggan says that wearing the green shirt of Ireland for next weekend's Hurling/Shinty International will be one of the proudest moments of his life.
Duggan has seen a lot in his time on the inter-county stage. A sensational hurler in full flow, the Clooney/Quin man enjoyed a stellar 2018 when he picked up a first All-Star award for his displays – and finished up as championship top scorer.
But Duggan, who has been selected for the Ireland team alongside Clare colleague David Fitzgerald, says that playing for Ireland is up there with his career highs.
"I didn’t have to hesitate," he says. "Wearing a green jersey in any sport is the pinnacle and you don’t get too many chances in the GAA, especially with hurling and this was a no-brainer for me.
"I realise the honour it is to be picked. I was on to YouTube straight away researching old videos and learning the game. The opportunity for me to get involved was massive and it is for everyone at home too."
Ireland, captained by Antrim’s Neil McManus, will take on Scotland in a compromise rules game on Saturday, 21 October in Páirc Esler, Newry at 2.45pm. It will be the first Hurling-Shinty international since 2019.
The exhibition match has been a longstanding tradition, bringing together top talents from both Scotland and Ireland in a showcase of shinty and hurling skills. The event is a collaboration between the GAA and the Camanachd Association, the governing body for shinty.
Due to Covid-19, the series was stalled for some years but the forthcoming match will see each nation select a 20-player squad to travel to Newry next week.
Scotland will be managed by Garry Reid, with selectors Alan MacRae and Robert Geddes.
The Ireland team will be managed by former Connacht hurling director Damien Coleman, with an experienced backroom team of Kieran Kingston (former Cork player and manager), the hugely-regarded Terence 'Sambo' McNaughton (Antrim) and eight-time All-Ireland winner Michael Kavanagh (Kilkenny).
"It’s a huge honour for me to be asked to manage the Irish team," says Coleman. "The next job was to get my backroom together and we have assembled a serious coaching group."
The first known international fixture between a Scottish shinty team and Irish hurling team occurred in 1896, when the London Camanchd and London GAA local clubs met in a friendly.
The following year, the first official series featuring an amalgamation of rules from both sports occurred at Celtic Park in Scotland in May 1897 between Glasgow Cowal and Dublin Celtic. The return match was played in Dublin on 17 July the same year. The referee was none other than Michael Cusack.
It would be 27 years – in 1924 – before another game would be played between Ireland and Scotland on Irish soil.
The official series between Ireland and Scotland began in 1988 with Ireland winning. Since then the sides have met 29 times, with a hiatus from 2000 to 2002, and from 2020 to 2022 due to Covid.
Of those games, Ireland have won 10 times, Scotland have won 16 times and they have drawn three times.
