The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) was formed in Hayes Hotel in Thurles on 1 November 1884 to promote and preserve indigenous Gaelic games, including hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders. The greatest and most ancient Irish sport is hurling, which has its roots in Na Fianna, where hurling was taught to young men who were training to be waniors. It is frequently referenced in Irish myths and legends. One of the earliest hurling legends was Setanta (0 - 33AD), who, as a 7 year old boy, used his hurley and sliothar to defend himself against a ferocious dog protecting the property of its owner, Culann. To make amends for killing the dog, Setanta took over the protection of Culann, and the legend of CU Chulainn was born.

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The Celtic legal system, the Brehon Laws, which prevailed in the 7th and 8th centuries, provided for compensation for hurling accidents and for cases of deliberate injury, or even death, as a result of hurling. The game was outlawed in the 12th century after the occupation of the Normans, but it survived and even flourished up to the early 19th century, largely due to patronisation by landlords. Hurling thrived throughout Ireland as a wild and often violent practice with few set rules. One 17th century account described the game as being played on a plain about 200 — 300 yards long, the first team to drive the ball through the goal of the opponent being the victor.

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By the time of the Great Famine of 1846-49, hurling had declined dramatically and was in danger of dying out completely. However records show that by the late 1850s, hurling was being played all over Munster as well as in Donegal, Down, Kilkenny and Longford. As a result of the establishment of the GAA, hurling once again flourished and has been restored as the most beloved and admired of all Gaelic sports.