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BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nA man who found a Northern Ireland boy’s sliotar (hurling ball) on the Scottish coastline – eight months after it went missing off the Donegal coast – has said he is amazed it travelled so far.<\/p>\n Donald Mac Isaac was walking on a beach near his home in Loch Eynort in Scotland on Monday evening when he found the hurling ball.<\/p>\n The sliotar was emblazoned with a name and the crest of Carryduff Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) – a club on the outskirts of Belfast. <\/p>\n Donald said he felt compelled to track down the owner.<\/p>\n “When I picked it up at the beach it had information on it and I thought it looked like something personal to someone because it had a name on it,” he said. <\/p>\n “I thought it might be worth finding out where the ball came from.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Donald got in touch with the Carryduff club which was able to contact the sliotar’s original owner, eight-year-old Fionn O’Neill. <\/p>\n Fionn is a member of the club and was awarded the ball because he was able to do three roll lifts in a row – a skill in which the hurling stick is rolled over the sliotar before it is flicked up into the hand. <\/p>\n “The ball was special to me because I won it,” the boy said. <\/p>\n Fionn lost the ball on a beach while he was on holiday with his family in Donegal last July. <\/p>\n “I was playing with it and hitting it against a rock. It went over the rock and we couldn’t find it. It got lost in a bush.”<\/p>\n He added: “I was shocked it turned up in Scotland – I didn’t think it could end up there. I was happy it turned up because it’s like a souvenir.”<\/p>\n Donald is a fluent Scottish Gaelic speaker and said he was able to recognise that the ball was related to Irish Gaelic. <\/p>\n “I’ve heard of hurling, which is similar to shinty that they play in Scotland.<\/p>\n “I felt it was important to contact the club as the owner’s name was on the ball which made it a bit more personal.<\/p>\n “And to find out who the owner was is quite special,” he said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Donald said he is open to the idea of Fionn and his family travelling to Scotland in person to reunite them with the ball.<\/p>\n Fionn’s mother, Donna Fisher, said they would be willing to make the trip and cannot believe the sliotar has travelled so far: “In our family we lose so many balls with hurling \u2013 but they don’t always have a name on it \u2013 it gives it a special meaning.”<\/p>\n “I think we might have to take Donald up on his offer of going to Scotland to get the ball, and teach him a bit about hurling.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Fionn said despite already losing the sliotar once he is going to continue playing with it when he finally gets it back from Scotland.<\/p>\n “I’m hoping to get it back again. I probably will play with it again \u2013 I’m not worried about losing it again as I already know how it feels to lose it.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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Donald Mac Isaac<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Fionn](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/9b4e\/live\/531f9560-e647-11ef-83f8-35f434c6ab1c.jpg.webp\")
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