It’s no secret that the Irish have a mischievous sense of humor. In fact, that is how Irish Road Bowling began.

Imagine a few lads sitting around having a pint or two when all of a sudden one of them gets a wild hair up his arse, and the shenanigans begin. The next thing you know he and the boys are sneaking over to the British side of the battleground and stealing as many cannon balls as they can muster. Well, the only logical thing to do now is roll them back to your side. They’re heavy for crap sake, they’re cannon balls! Plus the boys probably had more than one or two pints to encourage the adventure. So, the guys, being guys, probably started getting a little competitive on the trip back home trying to see who can make it back in the least amount of throws…Thus Irish Road Bowling!

Travis McMahon and Matt Nitsch at the Ohio Irish Road Bowling Association are the hooligans responsible for bringing this fine sport to Ohio and should be recognized for their actions. I had the opportunity to visit with them, at one of their events in Deer Creek State Park, to learn more about this interesting game and something new about my heritage.

Travis and Matt have big plans for the sport with hopes of expansion throughout the state of Ohio including Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton and Cincinnati. This weekend they will be at the Cleveland Irish Cultural Festival to promote the sport and July 31 through August 2 they will be at the “largest three-day Irish Festival on the planet,” the Dublin Irish Festival in Dublin, Ohio located on the outskirts of Columbus. So if you can, come out and visit them and learn more about this family friendly fun sport.