Short Mat Bowls in Ireland

Short mat bowling, as we now know it, originated in Northern Ireland but detailed information of the early days before the formation of the Irish Indoor Bowling Association in 1961 is somewhat hazy. Myth has it that the game was started, or conceived might be more appropriate, around 1926 when bowlers from the outdoor club of Victoria in Belfast were rained off their green and retired to their Church Hall, Strand Presbyterian. To pass the time they rolled bowls up and down the bare floor and someone suggested that a piece of carpeting might help matters. What happened after that is not clear and the next relevant information comes from Ballymacarret Presbyterian Church which claims to be the first club in existence and have hanging on the wall a photograph as evidence. This, taken in 1929, shows the Minister delivering a bowl on what seems to be a three foot wide piece of carpet and through a hoop. What developed from there until the early 1950’s is unclear although it does appear that there were indoor bowling clubs of some sort in existence in the Belfast area.

It was after the second world war that the game began to develop and records show that the first league was founded in 1952 with Past President and Past treasurer of the Association, Howard Mullan as secretary. Several other leagues were formed in 1954, 1959(2), 1960 and 1961 prior to the formation of the Association.

Laws of the game varied from one area to another. The game spread rapidly in the 1950’s extending beyond the Belfast area. In those days mats consisted of a top felt surface and an underlay of standard carpet under felt with a total cost of £30. 6 feet wide mats became the standard width, on of the standard widths of carpeting at that time with the length depending upon hall size. Clubs at that time were exclusive to Church Halls and almost completely in Northern Ireland though there were small pockets around Dublin and Cork. In the North West and Dublin areas mats of 9 – 12 feet wide were used with 3” diameter bowls. A few clubs in the Dublin area still exist but using 6 feet wide mats.

As indicated earlier, there were great variations in rules, with fenders and touchers often not existing while some clubs used a flat multi-sided jack.. In some cases no jack line was used but instead 3 jack spots and if a lead or second ditched the jack it was replaced on the centre spot and the game continued.

As the game rapidly expanded, it became clear that there was a great need for uniformity of rules and consequently it was proposed that an Association be formed to regularise matters,. Some 200 – 300 secretaries and representatives of clubs held an inaugural meeting on 13 September 1961, which was attended. A constitution was put forward and generally accepted subject to some amendments. It was decided to call the Association, the Irish Indoor Bowling Association.

The first officers of the Association who were elected at the meeting were;
President: 1961-64 P T Watson
Chairman: 1961-66 M H Henry
Vice Chairman 1961-66 J A Boomer
Secretary: 1961-66 S B Robinson
Treasurer: 1961-70 R A Richey
Comp. Secretary 1963-74 N Kennedy.

The fact that Short Mat was excluded from the title was because at that time no stadium bowls existed in Ireland. It was left to a Committee to formulate the Laws and Rules of the game and after several meetings these were finalised and approved on 6 February 1962.

By the end of 1961 – 62 season, 58 clubs and 5 leagues were affiliated to the Association .By the following year this had grown to 84 clubs and by 1970 there had been a dramatic increase to 530 clubs and 10 leagues. The licensing of tournaments is first recorded in 1967 with 23 and this had increased to 60 by 1970. Since then there has been a steady increase in the number of clubs, leagues and tournaments. In 2001 there were just under 1100 clubs of which 170 were in the Republic of Ireland, 41 leagues were affiliated and over 300 licensed tournaments organised. The game has now spread to community halls, golf clubs, rugby clubs etc and there has been a major growth in the Republic.

Initially the Association had been divided into 16 geographical areas or zones
 - Ballymacarret, Central Belfast, East Belfast Zone (amalgamated with Stormont and the combined Zone kept the title of East Belfast in 1994), North Belfast, South Belfast, West Belfast, Stormont, East Antrim, Armagh, Mid Down, North Down, Lisburn, Mid Ulster, Northern, Southern, Western - and this has now increased to 26, 5 of which are in the Republic - South Down (East) South Tyrone , North West, Mid Antrim, Foyle  (formed by splitting North West Zone), Donegal (formed by splitting Foyle Zone), West Down  (formed by splitting South Down), Mid Tyrone (formed by splitting Western Zone), Monaghan (formed by splitting Donegal Zone), Cork, North Eastern (formed by splitting Northern Zone, Larne (formed by splitting East Antrim Zone, Meath (formed by splitting Monaghan Zone, Oriel (formed by splitting Monaghan Zone). These zones annually appoint Zone Convenors who with the officers of the Association form the Executive Council managing the affairs of the Association. Zones average some 40 clubs although individually they vary from 17 – 69, representing some 30,000 bowlers.

The main event run by the Association is the National Championships which began in 1962 with 1612 entries in open singles, pairs and fours. These were, and still are, open to both men and women but in 1969 ladies singles and pairs were added followed by fours in 1972. Triples were added in 1977 followed by the junior singles in 1979. The championships were originally held in a central venue 0 the King’s Hall Belfast, but with the increase in entries they became decentralised to the Zones with the Zone winners coming together in the final stages. The entry has now increased to over 8000 in all eight competitions with the National Singles alone standing at nearly 3000, the largest bowling entry of any kind in Ireland.

Other competitions include the Inter Zone Championships, first introduced in 1962 when teams were mixed but a Ladies Competition was formed in 1976. The winners of the men’s competition now enter the Top Team competition against the English and Welsh regional champions. A shield competition, for those knocked out at the first stage of the inter zone was introduced in 1982. Finally the Champion of Champions was introduced in 1982 with those who win licensed tournaments able to enter.

The game of short mat bowls has now spread to many other countries with International and World Championships being played. The initial competition was held in 1981 in Larne when the Association played Scotland. It was not until 1986 that the British Isles International and Championships were introduced but these incorporated a variety of rules. It was not until 1990 that the first truly Short Mat event was held in Carlisle and from then the games have been played under rules agreed by the British Isles Short Mat Council. World Bowls was introduced in 1989 and is now held every two years.

While copies of the first Irish rules agreed in 1962 are not available, it is remarkable that the rules in the 1966/7 Year Book vary only slightly from present day rules and this is a great tribute to those pioneers of the game and the Irish Association is proud to have instigated a game capable of being played at all levels from purely social to International level and which has been instrumental in bring together people from different countries and of all classes, creed, colour, age and sex.