Hurling is an ancient game. Not as old as Ireland's Ash trees perhaps, but it didn't take long for them to be fashioned into sticks for the purpose of hitting a ball.

It features strongly in Irish mythology: The Tuatha de Dannan and Fir Bolg apparently took time out from fighting for control of Ireland three thousand years ago for a puc around. Setanta became Cú Chulainn when he sent a sliotar down a guard-dog’s throat.

References to hurling appear in Brehon law from the fifth century and it was one of many native practices banned under the 1366 Statutes of Kilkenny as the descendants of Norman settlers were feared to have become ‘more Irish than the Irish themselves’. Thankfully, the location of the parliament that year had no lasting effect on the sport’s local popularity.

By the 18th century, different forms of hurling were being played around Ireland, with a wide variation of local rules applying and matches often being arranged by landlords for wagers.

Members of the Killimor club in 1869 attire

The impact of the Great Famine and Act of Union had combined to send the game into apparently terminal decline by the late 19th century however, and the future founder of the Gaelic Athletic Association, Michael Cusack, claimed in 1883 that "No hurling has been played in Dublin... within the memory of the oldest inhabitant."

But the game was still being played in pockets around the country – including the regions of East Galway, North Tipperary and West Offaly that bordered the River Shannon.

Cusack founded the Metropolitan Hurling Club in December 1883 and reports of its activities soon reached the village of Killimor, 10km north of Portumna, whose team was considered the best in East Galway.

Killimor publican Patrick Larkin issued a challenge that Cusack accepted and on Easter Monday 1884 the Metropolitans travelled to Ballinasloe to play their Galway opponents for a specially commissioned silver cup.

Rules were agreed between Cusack and Killimor captain Francis Lynch and the teams set for 22 players a side.

However, Cusack drew a halt to proceedings at half-time - after Larkin had scored the first goal - claiming that the Galway men were over-enthusiastic in their distribution of timber.

Attempts by both sides to demonstrate how they believed the game should be played failed to resolve matters and Cusack took his men, and presumably his ball, home, where he produce to denounce Killimor in the press as having and ‘slashed in a reckless and savage manner’.

Cusack was the driving force behind the foundation of the GAA in Thurles that November and the Association’s first president Maurice Davin proposed its first hurling rules the following February.

Killimor were not impressed. A meeting of the club pointed out that their own rules had been in existence since 1869 and demanded an apology from Cusack for his 'false and scandalous accusations' of unsporting behaviour at the Ballinasloe game.

Larkin proceeded to publish the ‘Killimor Rules’, believed to be the earliest recorded hurling rules, the 150th anniversary of which is being celebrated around the village and at Killimor GAA club this weekend.

A commemorative wall is being unveiled by GAA president John Horan, historians such as Paul Rouse - author of ‘The Hurlers’ - will deliver speeches and there will be an exhibition game using 1869 replica clothes and hurls.

For a full list of the many events see here.

The Killimor Rules make no mention of pitch dimensions or team sizes, as Davin’s code does, with prohibitions on being under the influence of 'strong drink' and catching the ball among the most notable regulations.

Substitutes are forbidden unless a hurler 'meets with an accident' which the umpire deems serious enough to prevent him playing on and 'the prize' is frequently mentioned.

Hurling under the new GAA rules took a while to find its feet, with games often descending into a scrum and ending scoreless.

Throughout 1885, Killimor continued to play under the ‘traditional’ rules they held to be superior, a view apparently shared by neighbours like Meelick, Mullagh and Lusmagh.

They also challenged the Craughwell club, who had won a tournament under GAA rules, to a match for the title of Galway champions but a letter delayed in the post caused that game to be called off.

The wall commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Killimor rules

Killimor also declared themselves willing to play any team from outside Galway for the Championship of Ireland but in February 1886, Cusack staged a game in the Phoenix Park between North Tipperary and South Galway selections that drew a big crowd.

Shortly after, as the GAA's version of the game spread in popularity and the rules evolved more to their liking, the Killimor club affiliated with the Association.

By 1888 Larkin was president of the county board and Killimor had several representatives on the Meelick team (the neighbours often amalgamated) that represented Galway in the first official All-Ireland hurling final.

That game in Birr, which had actually been delayed from 1887, ended in a 1-1 to 0-0 victory for Tipperary, represented by Thurles Sarsfields.

Killimor claimed their first, and to-date only, Galway senior title in 1897 and currently compete at the intermediate grade, which they last won in 1984. The club's camogie team were crowned All-Ireland senior champions in 2011.

Both on and off the pitch, the club's hurling legacy lives on.