True, the Irish took hockey a step further on the evolutionary path when they invented hurling.

Since they don't have a lot of ice in Ireland, despite their northerly location, they needed to invent a substitute - like an oversized golf ball.

I believe it was St. Patrick who noticed his crosier could be altered into a hockey stick. As he was doing that it dawned on him that if he made it out of solid ash, and flattened the end he wouldn't need a puck, but could use the ball instead.

He then invented the noble game of hurling, which uses a baseball bat with a flat protruding end. After that it's pretty much like hockey, except you run around swinging the hurley at the ball as hard as you can, while unprotected members of the other team try to tackle you mid-swing in your effort to hit the ball at a gazillion miles per hour between the goal posts for a point. You get an extra two points if you hit it completely through the goalie and under the crossbar.

It's so cool being a Celt. But we don't have maple leaves, only syrup. And, because of hurling, and the famine, we have over a million less Irish today than 400 years ago.