The craft of hurley making
Modern hurley making falls into two categories: production by means of a lathe, a template and ancillary electric equipment or alternatively by hand with the assistance of band saw and an electric sander. A noteworthy aspect of the art of modern hurley making is the distance that hurlers travel to secure hurleys from their favourite manufacturers with defined special features.
In l995, the profit margin on a hurley was £4/€5. Today, a hurley maker is extremely lucky to end up with a profit of €4 on a hurley. It is reasonable to assume that a hurley maker can produce on average one hundred finished hurleys in a forty hour week; this works out a gross weekly income of €400.00. It is apparent that the modern hurley making sector is in urgent need of reform to achieve long term sustainability. It may once again take the threat of the manufacture of a synthetic hurley to highlight the precarious and haphazard nature of producing hurleys, which are used in what is unmistakably the world’s greatest, most skilful and most exciting field game.