Prince William and Kate Middleton try hurling on tour of Ireland

The Duchess of Cambridge gasped today as she whacked a hurling ball into the sky while trying out traditional Gaelic sports with her husband William as their successful three-day tour of Ireland came to a close.

Prince William and Kate, a keen hockey player at school, looked animated and laughed as they had a go at hurling and Gaelic football at Salthill Knocknacarra Gaelic Athletic Association in Galway while children watched on.

They learned more about the traditional sports which are popular across Ireland, and joined the group of children and young people from the club’s teams as they took part in matches on the pitch. 

Their attempt at the sports comes three years after William’s father Prince Charles also tried hurling in Ireland while visiting Kilkenny Castle in March 2017 as his wife Camilla watched on. 

It came after the royal couple revealed today that their son Prince George is learning the guitar and daughter Princess Charlotte is ‘very into gymnastics’, as William showed off his juggling skills to his wife Kate.

The Duke, who also went on a walkabout meeting members of the public with Kate today, displayed his circus talent as the couple watched a cultural showcase at Tribeton, one of Galway’s best-known an Art-Deco buildings.

There they were given a taste of some of the acts that will represent the city later this year, which is hosting the European City of Culture with more than 1,900 events and 150 projects with artists.

William, who is coming to the end of his three-day tour of Ireland with Kate this afternoon, kept three balls in the air with ease, revealing a career in the circus is always an option for the future king.

His talents were met with cheering and applause – but when a fourth ball was added the gravity defying display quickly came to an end – and, when the balls tumbled to the ground, the couple laughed.

The start of their final day in Ireland today was delayed after bad weather affected their travel, with their arrival in Galway put back after fog in the Dublin area caused problems with their helicopter departure.

After visiting the Tribeton restaurant, the couple later went to Tig Coili, a family-owned, traditional Irish pub in Galway city centre, where they met local Galwegians who volunteer to promote the city and its people.

The City of Culture events will feature local, national, European and international artists – celebrating all aspects of Irish culture, including music, theatre, literature, visual arts, dance, film, architecture and food.

The couple arrived at Tribeton around an hour behind schedule, due to fog in Dublin, with Kate wearing a green dress by Suzannah, with black suede high-heel boots and a black belt with diamante clasp.

On arrival, the couple met Patricia Philben, chief executive of Galway 2020, who accompanied them for the visit showcasing special performances featuring several of Galway 2020’s acts.

This included Livefeed, a project supporting the city’s youth music scene, Hoops, a youth basketball project, and the Galway Community Circus, which works with more than 600 diverse young people to advance their social development. ‘Sorry we’re late,’ said William. ‘We were in the only place in Dublin with fog.’ 

After being shown a Sea Tamagotchi display of Gaelic words which are falling out of use which William pledged to practice, the couple were treated to a three-minute performance by the band NØÖV, a group of local friends, Conall O’Floinn, 15 and Joe Kelly, 15, both on guitar, Molly Terrins, 15, their singer, Stevie Healy, 14, on drums and Daniel Ryan, 15 on bass guitar.

The band is part of the Livefeed project, which supports young people across Galway to put on musical events and ’empower them through music’.

They performed their original song, Light Sleeper, which Molly said was ‘about what keeps you up at night, from anxiety to family problems’.

‘Well done guys, that was amazing’ William said, adding to Molly ‘What a voice’. ‘You wrote that? You’re really good, awesome.’

The Duchess asked them: ‘Were you all friends before? When did you all start playing? It has been so interesting hearing all the storytelling over the last couple of days. I wish we could have brought George and Charlotte along, they would have loved it. And George is starting to learn the guitar.’

Next, the couple were introduced to a group of children who take part in the Basketball Ireland ‘Hoops Project’, which holds tournaments for children of all ages and playing abilities across Galway for the 3×3 ‘street version’ of the game.

The group included Irene Ciobann, 17 plays for the NUIG Mystics Team, Ava Murray, 17 for the Clare Galway team, Sean Lydon, 14 plays for Titans Basketball, Declan Gbinigie, 13 for West Regional Academy, Orla O’Brien, 13 for Clare Galway and Grace O’Brien, 21 for the Special Olympics.

Speaking to Mike Murray, the director of the programme, as the couple watched the group shoot some hoops, William asked: ‘Does it have a big following in Ireland?’ while Kate was keen to know ‘if as many girls as boys play? Basketball is more fun that netball, isn’t it, because you can run with the ball?

‘Did you play?’ she asked William, who said: ‘I played all the time at school, it helps being tall. It’s a great sport, and really keeps your accuracy up. So how did you all get into basketball?’

Gesturing at Mike Murray, Ava told him: ‘Well, he’s my dad,’ which made William laugh: ‘Aha! So you had no choice but to play! Excellent.’

Next, William and Kate watched a demonstration of tightrope walking on a balancing beam. ‘Oh my goodness, you’re showing off a bit there,’ he told the couple who were balancing on the tightrope. 

‘Want to have a go?’ he laughed, gesturing to Kate. ‘I don’t think I can because of these,’ she laughed, pointing at her boots. ‘How about you?’ William joked: ‘If I tried that, it would be a sack of someone on the floor. But I’ll give juggling a go.’

While chatting to the tightrope walkers after the demonstration, Kate told them: ‘Charlotte is really into gymnastics, she’s doing cartwheels, handstands, everything. It’s so good for their basic skills of balance and co-ordination.’ 

William added: ‘And their flexibility, it’s really good for their long-term health, isn’t it. We went to watch the Cirque du Soleil recently, it was amazing.’ 

William and Kate then watched two performers from the Galway Community Circus, juggler Tony Mahon, 31, from Dublin, and Isabela Mello, 26, from Brazil, now based in Galway, who was ‘handstanding’ for the couple.

The circus is part funded by the Irish government, local funding, charities, Arts Council and some European funding. It involves around 600 local people aged two to 75 across Galway, to take part in activities.

‘It’s great for their self-confidence, community engagement and mental wellbeing,’ said Mr Mahon. ‘Our oldest member is 75 who does the high wire.’

William turned to Kate laughing, as Miss Mello performed a series of handstands, and said: ‘Give it a go?’ Kate rolled her eyes, laughed and politely declined.

William, who said he had done ‘a bit of juggling’ then took three balls, and chatting to the reporters and cameras, joked: ‘I’ll try this in front of a load of you and flashing cameras, ha! Here goes.’

He then juggled perfectly for around 15 seconds, before deciding to ‘up the stakes’ with a fourth ball, at which point he managed around two juggles before the balls came tumbling down. ‘Ha! I think I’ll just stick with three,’ he said. 

Mr Mahon, who has been juggling for 14 years, said he was ‘very impressed’ with William’s skills. ‘He really exceeded my expectations. Even trying four balls – that’s next level stuff!

‘It’s not a huge deal for me having them here, but is nice for them to come and give us a bit of promotion. At the end of the day, William is just another guy, but he’s got some top notch juggling skills.’

Miss Mello said: ‘Having them here brings a bit of visibility to our projects. Even though they’re ‘royal’ people, it’s good to see them around people who do things in the communities.’

The event ended with a performance by a group of dancing drummers. After the performance, William joked: ‘Guys, I’m not sure that was loud enough. Seriously brilliant. It’s such an inspiring instrument.’

‘Want to try?’ asked one of the drummers. ‘No, I’m good!’ said William. ‘I’ve done my juggling!

William and Kate then made a short journey to King Street to visit a family-owned pub in the city centre, to meet local Galwegians who volunteer to promote the city and its people. 

There, they will learn more about traditional sports which are popular across Ireland, including hurling and Gaelic football, and join children and young people from the club’s teams as they take part in matches on the pitch.

Last night, the Duke called on the UK and Ireland to work to maintain the bonds of friendship post-Brexit – and vowed the royal family will play its part.

William said relationships between people were ‘more essential’ than legal treaties and he was optimistic a ‘shared vision for a peaceful and prosperous future’ would ensure the ‘precious bond’ between the Irish and British is kept.

The duke’s comments came in a keynote speech in Dublin and were echoed earlier in the day by agriculture minister Michael Creed, who said Ireland’s mission was to have ‘a very close relationship with the UK’.

William and Kate spent the day yesterday cooking lunch for young people after taking them food shopping, enjoying a scenic clifftop walk outside Dublin and touring a research farm.

Speaking at the Museum of Literature Ireland, at an event hosted by the Tanaiste, or deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney, the duke said: ‘Of course, the changing relationship between the UK and the EU will require us to work together, to ensure that the relationship between Ireland and the UK remains just as strong.’ 

He went on to say: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, legal treaties are vital in underpinning the relationships between states.

‘But relationships between people are equally, if not more essential – especially between the people of our two countries, whose lives, histories and futures are so deeply intertwined.

‘I am confident that friendship, understanding and a shared vision for a peaceful and prosperous future will ensure that the unique and precious bond between our people is not broken.

‘My family is determined to continue playing our part in protecting, preserving and strengthening that bond.’

The duke also urged the UK and Ireland not to be ‘bound’ by the wrongs of the past in his speech, which mirrored the Queen’s historic address to the Irish people.

William highlighted the importance of reconciliation, just as his grandmother did during her 2011 Ireland visit when she offered her sympathy to everyone who had suffered in centuries of conflict between the two nations.

The Queen helped put Anglo-Irish relations on a firmer footing by her Irish tour and the Prince of Wales has sought to strengthen those ties by making five successive trips to Ireland over the past five years.

After the Cambridges had visited the research farm in Co Meath, Mr Creed said: ‘We may have gone our separate ways in our previously shared membership of the European Union, but I think we can forge a new economic and political dispensation that is reflective of those broad family ties that have been there for many, many years.’

He added: ‘The UK will always be our closest neighbour, our closest trading partner and we are anxious to maintain that.’

Speaking about the Cambridges, he said: ‘They are very, very welcome here. They bring a symbolic message as well to the island of Ireland. It’s power, it’s a symbolism, this is an island we can share.’

During their visit to the Teagasc Research Farm, William and Kate told the principal of a local primary school they wanted to return to Ireland as a family.

Eileen O’Reilly, head of the Kiltale National School, said after the couple had met some of her pupils: ‘They said they would like to come back here with the kids and do a cycling tour and see the Irish countryside.’

As he toured the farm William, who enrolled on a 10-week agricultural course in 2014, also revealed he had been inspired by his father to lay hedgerows to improve the countryside. 

Later the Cambridges helped prepare the dish of the day for a group of youngsters – after popping to a shop to teach the children about budgeting.

William and Kate joined 13-year-olds Simon and Molly at Savannah House, a respite centre run by social justice charity Extern in Clane, County Kildare, and then visited a nearby village shop to buy ingredients for vegetable soup – with 20 euro (£17) to spend.

Their trip to the Londis store in Prosperous, County Kildare, was supposed to be a secret but word had got out and around 200 villagers had gathered to see them.

Store owner Philip Stynes admitted he had told a few customers about the impending visit and word soon spread.

‘It just snowballed from there,’ he said. ‘But even if we hadn’t told them, there would have been a big crowd. People live out on the streets here.’

William and Kate also enjoyed a romantic clifftop walk when they spent some quality time together outside Dublin.

Walking hand-in-hand and with the stunning coastline as a backdrop, they strolled along a path on the Howth peninsula under blue skies.

At the end of their ramble the couple were met by Ireland’s environment minister Richard Bruton, who said: ‘They remarked on how you couldn’t come to Ireland and not see the coastline, so they got their wish.

‘And they saw it in a benign light, normally there is a wind howling – it’s really beautiful today, they couldn’t be luckier.’