- ireland -

Irish Conker Championships

Saturday 25th - Sunday 26th October 2008

As our fathers' fathers' fathers' fathers did before us, this autumn, people across the globe will remove the laces from their shoes, dust down their drills (or knitting needles, as is often the case) and start walking with a distinct downward gaze...to spot conkers as they fall from the trees.

Whether it's 'bullies' in Australia, 'buckeyes' in America or 'obblyonkers' in the UK, the nut with many names has but one mission: to smash the opposing nut into oblivion.

If you are unfamiliar with the game of conkers, just close your eyes and imagine the Olympic sport of hammer-throwing and add to this the extra challenge of precision shooting that you hope will result in the absolute destruction of your opponent's conker. Into this mix you sprinkle a sizeable portion of tactics and skill, as you do not want to either smash your own conker first or fire with such fervour that a member of the spectating crowd receives a serious 'flying conker injury'.

The image that you now have in your mind should give an indication of what this hilariously serious, grown-up childish, strictly fun conker event is all about.