Sliotar

A sliotar (or sliothar - may derive from Irish sliabh, meaning "mountain" and thar meaning "across") is a hard solid sphere slightly larger than a tennis ball, consisting of a cork core covered by two pieces of leather stitched together. Sometimes called a 'puck' or 'hurling ball', it resembles an American baseball with more pronounced stitching. It is used in the Gaelic sports of hurling and camogie.

Early (pre-GAA) sliotars used various materials, depending on the part of the country:

bronze
wood and leather
wood, rope and animal hair

Johnny McAuliffe is the Irishman who is credited with the modern design. Born in Tullybrackey, Bruff, Co. Limerick in 1896 he was both a hurler and a mender of some note.

Before his improvements the ball had the following general characteristics:

Non-uniform: Poor manufacturing produced inconsistent shapes
Heavier: Minimum weight of 7 ounces (200 grams) as prescribed by GAA rules
Cumbersome: Large horse-hair packed ball tended to lose shape during play
Non water-resistant: Ball tended to become soggy during wet play
Low-visibility: Brown ball tended to "get lost" against Cusack stand (constructed in 1937)

McAuliffe made the following changes:

High-standard: Cork core, 2 piece pigskin with lip stitching
Sure-flight: Maintains shape over course of game leading to safer play
High-visibility: Hard-wearing white tanned pigskin impervious to grass stains
Lighter: Weight of approximately 3.5 ounces (100 grams) - about half the original
Water-resistant: Does not become heavy in wet weather leading to consistent handling

Given these changes, faster playing surfaces and fitter players hurling was transformed into the modern high-scoring game loved today.

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