Settled Once And For All: The Best Hurley Makers In Wexford

Over the last few months, we’ve been running a campaign to find the best of everything across Wexford…

We ran polls and then published ‘the best of Wexford’ articles after votes were counted. We published articles on Wexford’s best pubs, Wexford’s best beer gardens, Wexford’s best take-aways, Wexford’s best places for a meal for two, Wexford’s best tourist attractions, and even Wexford’s best places to purchase a 99 ice-cream.

As a proud hurling county, we could not move forward without running a poll regarding the best hurley makers in Wexford. Over the last two days, a public poll was ran via the Wexford Weekly Twitter page and the results are now in after 155 people voted in the poll.

4 – Maher Handmade Hurls, Oylegate (9.7%)

Maher Handmade Hurls are made by owner, Paul Maher. Maher Handmade Hurls is a family business. Paul is described as a “master hurl maker with almost forty years of experience.” It seems that their hurls have become more popular in recent times.

3 – Dec Barron Hurleys, Enniscorthy (23.9%)

Dec Barron specialises in handcrafting every hurley to suit each player’s requests. Based on the outskirts of Enniscorthy, some top inter-county players like Limerick’s Kyle Hayes, Wexford’s Liam Og McGovern, and Wexford’s Cathal Dunbar all opt for a Dec Barron hurl.

2- L’ash Go Leor, Wexford (23.9%)

L’ash Go Leor received the same amount of votes as Dec Barron. They could not be separated on the Twitter poll, and it was a coin-toss that resulted in them jumping ahead. L’ash Go Leor are fully deserving of their place on this list though. They are based out of a large workshop in the scenic area of Forth Mountain. A number of top inter-county players including Lee Chin, Matt O’Hanlon, and Jack O’Connor all use the L’ash Go Leor hurl. Down through the years, they’ve been the choice of many too.

Wexford hurler Lee Chin pictured with the L’ash Go Leor hurl

1 – Brian Walsh, Enniscorthy (42.6%)

Brian Walsh, located in Enniscorthy, has been voted in as number one and has taken the top spot. His hurls are highly rated not just in Wexford, but across the country. Walsh often distributes hurls to Dublin and Galway and many inter-county hurlers use the Wexford stick. At home here in Wexford, the likes of Conor McDonald, Kevin Foley, and Wexford’s ever-consistent full-back Liam Ryan all fancy the Brian Walsh hurl as their go-to hurl of choice.