Saint77
Rookie
It is fact and it has been proven that there was a very popular football code identical to Aussie Rules that was being played on the Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland, prior to 1850. Evidence has been brought to us from the thesis of Father W. Ferris of Glenflesk, Co.Kerry.
Tom Wills did not invent the Aussie rules code of footy. He only organised an existing and popular sport in 1858.
Father Ferris wrote a thesis on the code of football which was exclusive to the area encompassing the Dingle peninsula. There is no written evidence that this code of football had been played anywhere else in Ireland or the UK. In fact the most popular sport going around in Ireland during these times was Hurley.
The code of football that was from the Dingle area in County Kerry was very unique; its proper name was Caid, or Kerry Caid. When you compare this code of footy to the first recorded match of Aussie Rules football which involved Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar School in 1858 the resemblance is uncanny. Father W. Ferris described the following characteristics of Kerry Caid in the 1840's in his thesis as follows:
1. The game began when the ball was thrown in from the boundary and two opposing rucks tapped off.
2. The players were allowed to use their hands and feet to control the ball.
3. The players were not permitted to throw the ball; they had to handpass or kick.
4. The players were required to bounce the ball after covering a certain amount of ground.
5. There was no offside rule.
6. Tackling and tripping was allowed.
7. There was no set number of players per team.
8. The game was played on a large grass paddock.
9. There was no set time limit or though a certain number of goals scored concluded the game.
10. The ball used was made of animal skins with an inflated natural bladder inside, which resulted in an elongated ball.
11. Trees located at opposing ends of the paddock were used as goals.
Amazingly these characteristics are identical to football that sprung up in rural Victoria in 1853. The characteristics of Kerry Caid describe in the Thesis of Father Ferris were also the same characteristics of football played between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar in 1858. The core characteristics of Kerry Caid have no resemblance to Rugby or Soccer which were the codes that were evolving in England, Wales and Scotland.
Prior to the major Gold Rush in 1852-53, there is no written evidence that Kerry Caid footy was played in Victoria or Australia, or even anywhere else in the world, besides the Dingle Peninsula. What is true is that this code of football was played after 1852 in Victoria. What is also true and has been recorded is that Hundreds of Irishmen from the Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, departed Ireland and migrated for the Victorian Gold Rush in the early 1850's. And it is highly likely that the popular football code of Kerry Caid was played in Melbourne and on the Victorian Goldfields amongst the immigrants from the Dingle Peninsula. The best and fittest men of the Dingle Peninsula migrated to Victoria and as a result or maybe just a coincidence; football that is identical in nature to Kerry Caid began to be played in Victoria.
The majority of the Irish from Kerry migrated to Victoria in the early 1850's. These were the people who survived the Irish famine in 1845 to 1850. They were strong, fit and determined to make a new life for themselves as free settlers in the new wealthy colony of Victoria. And with them they brought there culture, customs and their code of footy.
Out on the goldfields most other Irishmen had never seen this type of football and either had the English, Scottish, Welsh, Germans, Italians and other Europeans. It wasn't long before this code of footy became popular amongst the other nationalities.
My Question is:
Why would our current day Aussie rules historians publish books that do not mention anything about Kerry Caid or the thesis of Father W. Ferris?
In fact they have done as much as they can to dispute that Aussie Rules has anything to do with the Irish. It is common knowledge that Aussie Rules developed far quicker in Victoria than Gaelic football did in poverty stricken Ireland after the 1850’s.
Victoria at the time of the 1850's was the wealthiest colony in the world and some of the best Irishmen and Irishwomen immigrated to Victoria to make our nation what it is today. It is known in Ireland that Caid played in Kerry is the predecessor to Gaelic Football, but here in Australia Kerry Caid has been swept under the carpet.
I find it hard to believe that Tom Wills, H.C.A. Harrison, W.J. Hammersley and J.B. Thompson invented our Australian code of football, it is more likely that they organise or developed Kerry Caid football for all Australians.
References:
Tom Wills did not invent the Aussie rules code of footy. He only organised an existing and popular sport in 1858.
Father Ferris wrote a thesis on the code of football which was exclusive to the area encompassing the Dingle peninsula. There is no written evidence that this code of football had been played anywhere else in Ireland or the UK. In fact the most popular sport going around in Ireland during these times was Hurley.
The code of football that was from the Dingle area in County Kerry was very unique; its proper name was Caid, or Kerry Caid. When you compare this code of footy to the first recorded match of Aussie Rules football which involved Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar School in 1858 the resemblance is uncanny. Father W. Ferris described the following characteristics of Kerry Caid in the 1840's in his thesis as follows:
1. The game began when the ball was thrown in from the boundary and two opposing rucks tapped off.
2. The players were allowed to use their hands and feet to control the ball.
3. The players were not permitted to throw the ball; they had to handpass or kick.
4. The players were required to bounce the ball after covering a certain amount of ground.
5. There was no offside rule.
6. Tackling and tripping was allowed.
7. There was no set number of players per team.
8. The game was played on a large grass paddock.
9. There was no set time limit or though a certain number of goals scored concluded the game.
10. The ball used was made of animal skins with an inflated natural bladder inside, which resulted in an elongated ball.
11. Trees located at opposing ends of the paddock were used as goals.
Amazingly these characteristics are identical to football that sprung up in rural Victoria in 1853. The characteristics of Kerry Caid describe in the Thesis of Father Ferris were also the same characteristics of football played between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar in 1858. The core characteristics of Kerry Caid have no resemblance to Rugby or Soccer which were the codes that were evolving in England, Wales and Scotland.
Prior to the major Gold Rush in 1852-53, there is no written evidence that Kerry Caid footy was played in Victoria or Australia, or even anywhere else in the world, besides the Dingle Peninsula. What is true is that this code of football was played after 1852 in Victoria. What is also true and has been recorded is that Hundreds of Irishmen from the Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, departed Ireland and migrated for the Victorian Gold Rush in the early 1850's. And it is highly likely that the popular football code of Kerry Caid was played in Melbourne and on the Victorian Goldfields amongst the immigrants from the Dingle Peninsula. The best and fittest men of the Dingle Peninsula migrated to Victoria and as a result or maybe just a coincidence; football that is identical in nature to Kerry Caid began to be played in Victoria.
The majority of the Irish from Kerry migrated to Victoria in the early 1850's. These were the people who survived the Irish famine in 1845 to 1850. They were strong, fit and determined to make a new life for themselves as free settlers in the new wealthy colony of Victoria. And with them they brought there culture, customs and their code of footy.
Out on the goldfields most other Irishmen had never seen this type of football and either had the English, Scottish, Welsh, Germans, Italians and other Europeans. It wasn't long before this code of footy became popular amongst the other nationalities.
My Question is:
Why would our current day Aussie rules historians publish books that do not mention anything about Kerry Caid or the thesis of Father W. Ferris?
In fact they have done as much as they can to dispute that Aussie Rules has anything to do with the Irish. It is common knowledge that Aussie Rules developed far quicker in Victoria than Gaelic football did in poverty stricken Ireland after the 1850’s.
Victoria at the time of the 1850's was the wealthiest colony in the world and some of the best Irishmen and Irishwomen immigrated to Victoria to make our nation what it is today. It is known in Ireland that Caid played in Kerry is the predecessor to Gaelic Football, but here in Australia Kerry Caid has been swept under the carpet.
I find it hard to believe that Tom Wills, H.C.A. Harrison, W.J. Hammersley and J.B. Thompson invented our Australian code of football, it is more likely that they organise or developed Kerry Caid football for all Australians.
References:
- Thesis – “Traditional game of Caid”, Father W. Ferris of Glenflesk, Killarney, Ireland
- The Irish in Australia: 1788 To the Present by Patrick O'Farrell
- Victorian Gold Rushes by Weston Bate
- A History of Gaelic Football by Jack Mahon
- The Oxford Companion to Australian History
- A Concise History of Australia (Cambridge Concise Histories)
- The Course of Irish History, 4th Edition by T. W. Moody
- http://pointme.to/football/gaelic.htm
- http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Caid_(sport)
- http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Caid-(sport)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaelic_football
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caid_(sport)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Rules
