Pope (John-paul Matthew) write up

War of the shamrocks has been held once before back in 2010, and it was about time it was revived with a couple of shock paddles of craic and a prayer. We had folk travelling from all over north and south of Ireland to try and win some prizes and the latest coveted hand crafted wooden war trophies. The event was organized by Skateboard:NI and was proudly sponsored by:
Wreckless skatepark, Rosy’s skatepark, Real, Flip, Spitfire, Develop Boards, Wireless Boards, The Board Room Shop, True Grip shop, Loko Shop, Push Wax, Skate Eire.
Huge Props go out to the companies for agreeing to support this event and to help make it happen. Thanks again.
Skateboard:NI’s brief rundown of what went down over the weekend
Day1 Rosy’s skatepark:
As it should be we started off with giving the young and up comers an opportunity to win some of the fine product we had been given by our sponsors. The kids were amped and hucked themselves down the stairs and tore hard on the newly revamped one half of the skatepark. Highlights were , kickflip front boards on the flat bar, b/s board slides on big rail, late backfoot flips up euro, various nollie 180 flip and heels on the flat bank, inside heels over driveway . Also the hammer session on the 3 flat 3 stairs, consistent kickflips,hardflips tré’s, hardflip rev’s by the winner Jacob Nixon second place Terrence McLaughlin, and third place Connor O’Boyle.
Next up were the older heads, and a few locals who know the park well showed the control and flow they’d mastered over hours spent skating there. Dee Collins started throwing down with what seems to be a long list of stock tricks, halfcab heel, varial heel, fakie bigspin, hardflip, stomping them down bolts and surprising folks when he didn’t roll away on a few others. Then a small demo on the flat bar,b/s and f/s smiths, b/s lips, cab lips securing him second place. Young lad Josh was no slouch in this session he hustled and it paid off for him landing huge popped shuv’s down the stairs and tré’s, nollie flip transfer from upper platform into the lower flat bank securing him third. The winner Dee Diamonds skated the whole park, used everything and landed everything linking most of them together. Backside and frontside lips down the rail, switch heel and nollie heel down the stairs, smith 180 out on the ledge, switch krook down the hubbas, with minimum fuss.

Day2 Wreckless skatepark:

This seemed to be the day that most were keen to get to. A lot of NI skater hadn’t been to Wreckless indoor park which is still fairly new and were super keen to check it out. There was great turn out for this event with southern rippers showing strength in numbers. Notable rippers throughout the day were, Scott Keegan , Peter Murphy, Jonny McConkey, Mark Jamison. Also special guest star appearance from American, Andrew Dellas, plus the local and always consistently shredding Gav Coughlan.
Once we were all signed up there was 3 groups of 15 mins jam each to give the skater time to settle into things and show off their skills to the max. Most just went as hard as they could for the full 15 mins. We had miller flips, blunt flip fakies, the longest b/s nose grind, blunt slides f/s 270 out, creative wallrides(which won a deck)switch front biggie heel down the set, Judges judged and the winners were, Gav Coughlan first, Andrew Dellas second, joint third for Cian Eades and new kid Dee Collins. Then a 30 mins mini ramp jam, which kinda turned into a mellower version of a Texas death max for a short time, notable tricks Ollie nose grab sex change disasters, fakie ollie stalefish boosting out of 7ft extension, long styled out fakie frontside salads, judges judged and winners were, 1st Gav Coughlan, 2nd Andrew Dellas,(noticing a pattern here), joint 3rd Ciaran Hughes and ju-jitsu master John Fleming. Then the day finished with a hammer time on the stairs and rail for best trick. Many a carcass chucked down the stairs with the prizes in sight they saw what was on offer for rolling away. Some notable hammers were, nollie late front foot flip, beastly tré over the rail, nollie hards, huge ollie up the stairs, judges judged and the winner were, Scott Keegan, Conor Benson, Josh Pearson.

All in all was a great 2 days, here’s to next year making it bigger and better and a future staple for the emerald isle.

Photos by Craig Dodd