A NEW, half-hour documentary investigating the idea that an old Irish stick-and-ball game was the precursor to the modern-day game of cricket, will be shot in Wexford later this month.
Local cricket fan James Caulfield from Slaney Manor has long held the belief that cricket evolved from an Irish game called ‘Caith é’ or ‘Catty’, which began as a stick-and-stick game, possibly in the 1600s, and continued to be played until the 1950s.
Mr. Caulfield met with film producers Bernard Walton and Monica Heslam recently to discuss the upcoming shoot, which he hired Aqua Vita Films to work on.
Mr. Walton explained that he had grown up in Ireland, attended Trinity College and had worked with the BBC for a few decades. He subsequently set up his own company which focuses on a variety of documentary films. He explained that he had been introduced to Mr. Caulfield through a mutual friend.
“My friend thought that I would be interested in James’ story because I’ve always been very interested in Irish culture. It’s a fascinating story of how an Irish game became an English game and when I heard it I could see a brilliant film in it.”
He pointed out that no Englishman actually knew the origins of cricket and there were some instances of the Irish language in the game today, but no one knew where they came from. The story, he said was very visual and clear.
“James got this amazing opportunity to see both Catty and cricket, and he saw the connection between the two games.”
Mr. Caulfield, who began researching the similarities between the games over 20 years ago, said that commentators had remarked that the search for the birth of cricket had been as fruitless as the search for the Holy Grail.
He added that his interest in the history of cricket was one he shared with the former British Prime Minister John Major who, in his own book, said he had not been able to find the origins of the game of cricket. Mr. Caulfield sent the politician a copy of his own book and received a copy of Mr. Major’s in return.
The half-hour documentary will detail the history of the old game, which is believed to pre-date Cromwellian times in Ireland, show aspects of Catty and feature a re-enactment of the historic game.
[Full story in this week’s Echo]