Hurling
Although not a traditional hurling county, hurling is the dominant sport in certain pockets of the county. There are 6 Senior hurling clubs in Mayo, who compete for the TJ Tyrell Senior Hurling Championship each year. These 6 clubs are Tooreen, Ballyhaunis, Castlebar Mitchel's, Westport, Ballina-James Stephens and Belmullet. Ballyhaunis are the reigning Senior Champions and have 6 senior titles, while Tooreen hold the most titles with 26.
These 6 clubs provide the players to the Mayo Senior hurling panel, who take part in the National Hurling League and in the All-Ireland Christy Ring (Tier 2) Cup. Mayo's best performances in the Christy Ring Cup came in 2008 and 2009, when the Mayo side fell at the semi-final stage to Carlow and Down respectively. The Mayo U-21 hurling team compete in the Connacht U-21B hurling championship each year along with Roscommon, Sligo and Leitrim.
Hurling at underage level is also expanding in Mayo, with 10 clubs competing in underage leagues and championships in the county. As well as the 6 adult sides named above, 4 other underage clubs have formed in recent years. These clubs are Ballyvary, Moytura, Caiseal Gaels and Claremorris. These 10 clubs provide the players for the Mayo underage hurling development panels. Mayo have development panels at U14, U15, U16 and Minor age-groups, and compete in the All-Ireland 'B' competitions each year.
Mayo's most famous hurlers are Joe Henry (Tooreen), who won Railway Cup medals with Connacht in the 1980s, and current dual player Keith Higgins (Ballyhaunis) who played for the Mayo football team in the All-Ireland football final in 2006.
Hurling in Mayo is administered by the Mayo GAA Hurling Committee, which is a sub-committee of the Mayo GAA County Board.
Read more about this topic: Mayo GAA