Paddy Daly RIP putting the finishing touches to a hurley, circa. 1955
Daly's Hurleys - The Art of Hurley Making
- Paddy Daly R.I.P. of Pallaskenry started making hurleys by hand in the late 1930’s. The traditional craft involved a great deal of laborious effort from the felling of the ash tree to the demanding task of cutting out the hurleys by hand. Even with the help of his eight strong family, Paddy found that he was not able to meet the growing demand for hurleys.
- In the early eighties, Paddy’s son DJ decided to build a new factory and install modern equipment to develop the hurley making business, with assistance from Shannon Development under its small industry programme. This enabled the business to turn out 100 hurleys a day through combining the use of modern cutting, shaping and sanding equipment with the traditional skills which he learned from his late father.