BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) — If you’re looking for authentic Irish experiences this March, you don’t have to go to the end of the rainbow to find them!

Before football, soccer, basketball, baseball and golf there was Irish road bowling. According to WV Irish Road Bowling, Irish road bowling is a game wherein a small iron and steel cannonball called a “bowl” is hurled down a 1 to 2-mile country lane. Similar to golf, the player with the fewest throws to the finish line wins.

In 1994, Marie Powell, who had been raised on Green Hill above Ireland, WV, traveled with her son, David, to the Country of Ireland. There, in Cork City at Sheehan’s Hardware Store, they purchased six Irish road bowls to bring back to West Virginia for the next year’s Irish Spring Festival. The sport was an instant hit and has been a new tradition here in WV since.

Mark Whitt with WV Irish Road Bowling will be offering a Irish road bowling demo in Beckley on March 11. Attendees can practice a few throws for fun along sections of the McManus Trail. Those interested will need to meet at the trail shelter located near Prince Street at 11a.m. The event is free and open to the public.