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Sports in Ireland |
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GAA Gaelic Football
Gaelic Football can be described as a mixture of soccer and rugby, although it predates both of those games. It is a field game, which has developed as a distinct game similar to the progression of Australian Rules. Indeed it is thought that Australian Rules evolved from Gaelic Football through the many thousands who were either deported or emigrated to Australia from the middle of the nineteenth century. Gaelic Football is played on a pitch approximately 137m long and 82m wide. The Bank of Ireland football championship finals is annually played in Croke Park, Dublin. The goalposts are the same shape as on a rugby pitch, with the crossbar lower than rugby one and slightly higher than a soccer one.
Further information available at:
GAA’s Official Website
www.gaa.ie
The GAA Store
www.thegaastore.com
Ladies Gaelic Football Website
www.ladiesgaelic.ie |
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Gaelic Hurling
Gaelic Hurling is a game similar to hockey, in that it is played with a small ball and a curved wooden stick. It is Europe's oldest field game. When the Celts came to Ireland as the last ice age was receding, they brought with them a unique culture, their own language, music, script and unique pastimes. One of these pastimes was a game now called hurling. It features in Irish folklore to illustrate the deeds of heroic mystical figures and it is chronicled as a distinct Irish pastime for at least 2,000 years. The stick, or "hurley" (called camán in Irish) is curved outwards at the end, to provide the striking surface. The ball or "sliothar" is similar in size to a hockey ball but has raised ridges. Annually The Guinness Hurling Championship takes place in Croke Park, Dublin. |
Soccer
The Football
Association of Ireland controls the activities of all Ireland's international
football teams and is affiliated to Fédération Internationale de
Football Association (FIFA). Through its own affiliated bodies the FAI
also organises all domestic competitions from the Eircom League and FAI
Carlsberg Cup to the FAI Schools' 6-a-side competition.
The FAI Carlsberg Senior Cup
is Ireland's Premier Cup competition.It is run on a knockout basis, with the
first round comprised of the four semi-finalists in the previous season's FAI
Junior Cup and the last 16 in the previous season's FAI Carlsberg Intermediate
Cup. The 10 winning clubs are joined by the 22 league clubs in the second round.
It is always an open draw meaning that junior clubs have as much chance of
drawing the top clubs in the country as they do of drawing their junior rivals.
Shamrock Rovers are the most successful club in the competitions' history
with 24 victories, though the last was in 1987.
Twenty-Four National clubs are entered into the
Eircom League Cup that is divided into four pools of six teams. All pools
will have two fixtures and two byes. After the first round, the four remaining
teams in each pool will be drawn into two pairings in an open draw within that
pool. The quarter-final and semi-final draws will be conducted on an open basis.
The Football Association of Ireland
www.fai.ie
The Official Website for the Irish Football Association
www.irishfa.com
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Irish Rugby
The Irish Rugby Team Triple Crown
winners 2006
The Celtic Leagueseason delivers a
22-weekend calendar when all eleven teams play each other at home and away and
the winners after the 20 games have been completed will be crowned the Celtic
League Champions.
The league will take place between the first
weekend of September and the last weekend of May and league matches will avoid
the traditional international weekends in November and during the Six Nations
Championship
Further
information is available from:
Irish Rugby The Official Website
www.irishrugby.ie
Rugby League Ireland
http://www.rli.ie/
Celtic Rugby
http://www.celticleague.com/2_8.php
Irish Womens Rugby
www.iwrfu.com
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