One of the things that makes hurling so popular is its simplicity. You only need two things at hand in order to practice the sport: A hurl and a sliotar.

That simplicity can also make innovation difficult. There have been very few changes made to those two pieces of equipment down through the years, with the tradition of the game both its biggest strength and a barrier to modern breakthroughs.

For one Limerick teenager, this presented an opportunity.

Limerick teenager invents glowing sliotar to solve big issue

A glowing sliotar may seem like something of a mad idea, but it is one that serves a very specific purpose. It was from his own personal struggles while trying to practice his favourite sport that led TY Student Cathal Sweeney to invent GLO Ball.

Speaking to Balls, the 16-year old recalled what led to his eureka moment:

I came up with the idea in my garden.

It was one of the days after school and all I wanted to do was just go outside and puck a ball for ten minutes, get my touch and clear my head.

I was constantly missing the ball. I wasn’t as effective as I’d like to be with the time that I had outside, I’d end up actually losing a lot of balls and not being able to recover them because it’d be dark outside.

If I hopped into my neighbour’s garden to go look for them, I wouldn’t even be able to see them.

I knew that there had to be a better way to do it. I felt like I’d spent so long complaining about it that I actually wanted to create a product and fix the issue.

We have all had half baked ideas on products that could work at some point in our lives, putting into action a plan to bring those notions to life is an altogether different matter.

It is an even more daunting prospect when you are just 16-years old. However, Cathal Sweeney’s business project as part of a TY course at Mungret Community College allowed him to put a plan into motion.

Here’s how he went about doing it:

I reached out to about five or ten manufacturers, it was a good amount.

Most came back and just said ‘no that’s just impossible, that can never happen, why hasn’t someone done it before?’

I eventually ended up finding one who was willing to take a look at it.

There was some back and forth with samples, with Cathal attempting to refine the product.

How does the GLO Ball work?

There was also the small matter of how the ball would work in reality. A glowing sliotar has to actually glow, while also remaining both durable and convenient to use. That ruled out the use of LED lights, which can easily break and require either batteries or consistent charging.

The product he eventually landed on uses none of these things. Here’s how the GLO ball works, using no power source and a simple UV torch.

The GlO ball has a phosphorus powder built into it. Once the torch is shone on the ball, the powder absorbs the light.

Once you shine on the ball it emits the light for a few minutes, which gives it the glow in the dark effect so you can see it at nighttime.

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It was a brilliant solution for a number of reasons.

The first is time, with the torch taking just ten seconds to light the ball. That should give you around five minutes of play time before it needs to be used again.

Secondly, the lack of LED lights mean that the ball will be far more durable. The phosphorus powder does not lose its effect over time, meaning the ball should remain as effective as ever despite continued use.

They currently retail for €12.50 a piece, or you can purchase a pack of three with a UV light for €26. A pink edition has also been released, with €1 from each purchase of that edition going towards Breast Cancer Ireland.

Readers of Balls can also avail of a 10% discount by using the code ‘Balls10’ at glohurling.com.

The GLO ball has already been a big success, with a product that started as a TY project hitting national headlines. Cathal has essentially run it as a full-time job during this period, although that is about to change.

He will start fifth year over the coming weeks, meaning he will have far less time to dedicate to his business. He is putting plans in place to bring in some outside help in order to grow the product further while he juggles it with his school work, including outsourcing distribution and hiring someone to help with admin.

As for his goals over the remainder of 2026, he has some big ones in mind.

A local Centra store has agreed to stock the product on a trial basis, with a possible national rollout if it turns out to be a success. Along with appearances on a couple of well-known shows, it was one of the three goals he set out for himself at the start of the year:

I wrote on like a bulletin board at the start of this year about three things that I want to achieve.

I want to get on the 2 Johnnies Podcast. I want to get on the Late Late Toy Show. And I want to have my products stocked in a shop in every county across Ireland.

Those are the three big ones. I’m slowly trying to take them off.

Somebody get Patrick Kielty on the phone.

At just 16-years old and having experience so much success already, it might not be long before Cathal Sweeney and GLO Ball needs to aim even higher.