CARRICK-ON-SUIR will host a first next week when the inaugural Urban Poc Fada takes place in the Tipperary town.

The famous hurling challenge, which sees players try to navigate a course in as few pucks as possible, has long been associated with its traditional location in Louth’s Cooley Mountains.

But for the first time, the event will be transposed to an urban setting on Bank Holiday Monday, 3 June, as part of the Clancy Brothers’ Festival in Carrick.

Contestants will face a one-mile course, shorter than the Cooley route but which will require just as much skilled technique and deft touches in the built-up surroundings, organisers say. Participants will be drawn from inter-county and local hurling teams.

The event, which begins at 1pm from the 13th century Ormond Castle and finishes near the Maurice Davin Memorial Grounds, is free to the public.

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