Gaelic Athletic Association

Foundation and history

Main article: History of the Gaelic Athletic Association

On 1 November 1884, a group of Irishmen gathered in the Hayes' Hotel billiard room to formulate a plan and establish an organisation to foster and preserve Ireland's unique games and athletic pastimes. Arising out of the meeting, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) was founded. The architects and founding members were Michael Cusack of County Clare, Maurice Davin, Joseph K. Bracken, Thomas St George McCarthy, a District Inspector in the Royal Irish Constabulary, P. J. Ryan of Tipperary, John Wyse Power and John McKay. Maurice Davin was elected president, Cusack, Wyse-Power and McKay were elected Secretaries and it was agreed that Archbishop Croke, Charles Stewart Parnell and Michael Davitt would be asked to become Patrons.

In 1922 it turned over the job of promoting athletics to the National Athletic and Cycling Association.

Competitions

Main article: List of Gaelic Athletic Association competitions

The GAA organises a number of competitions at divisional, county, inter-county, provincial, inter-provincial and national (All-Ireland) levels. A number of competitions follow a progressive format in which, for example, the winners of a club county football competition progress to a competition involving the top clubs from each county in the province, with the champions from each province progressing through a series of national finals.

Cultural activities

The association has had a long history of promoting Irish culture. Through a division of the association known as Scór (Irish for "score"), the association promotes Irish cultural activities, running competitions in music, singing, dancing and storytelling.

Rule 4 of the GAA's official guide states:

The group was formally founded in 1969 and is promoted through various Association clubs throughout Ireland (as well as some clubs outside Ireland).

Grounds

Main article: List of Gaelic Athletic Association stadiums

The association has many stadiums scattered throughout Ireland and beyond. Every county and nearly all clubs have grounds, with varying capacities and utilities, where they play their home games.

The hierarchical structure of the GAA is applied to the use of grounds. Clubs play at their own grounds for the early rounds of the club championship, while the latter rounds from quarter-finals to finals are usually held at a county ground, i.e. the ground where inter-county games take place or where the county board is based.

The provincial championship finals are usually played at the same venue every year. However, there have been exceptions, such as in Ulster, where in 2004 and 2005 the Ulster Football Finals were played in Croke Park, as the anticipated attendance was likely to far exceed the capacity of the traditional venue of St Tiernach's Park, Clones.

Croke Park

Croke Park is the association's flagship venue and is known colloquially as Croker or Headquarters, since the venue doubles as the association's base. With a capacity of 82,300, it ranks among the top five stadiums in Europe by capacity, having undergone extensive renovations for most of the 1990s and early 21st century. Every September, Croke Park hosts the All-Ireland inter-county Hurling and Football Finals as the conclusion to the summer championships. Croke Park holds the All-Ireland club football and hurling finals. Croke Park is named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, who was elected as a patron of the GAA during the formation of the GAA in 1884.

The Croke Park campus is also home to the National Handball Centre, which replaced the old Croke Park Handball Centre built in the 1970s. The centre is due to be the home of GAA Handball and to play host to All-Ireland Gaelic Handball finals.

Other grounds

The next three biggest grounds are all in Munster: Semple Stadium in Thurles, County Tipperary, with a capacity of 53,000, the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick, which holds 50,000, and Páirc Uí Chaoimh, County Cork, which can accommodate 45,000.

Other grounds with capacities above 25,000 include:

• Fitzgerald Stadium, in Killarney, a capacity of 43,180
• MacHale Park in Castlebar, the largest stadium in Connacht (and in the northern half of the country), a capacity of 42,000
• St Tiernach's Park in Clones, County Monaghan, hosts most Ulster finals, a capacity of 36,000
• Kingspan Breffni Park, in Cavan Town, County Cavan, which hosted International rules football series games in 2013, a capacity of 32,000
• Casement Park, in Belfast, which had a capacity of approximately 31,500 prior to its closure in 2013
• Nowlan Park, in Kilkenny, a capacity of 27,800
• O'Moore Park, in Portlaoise, County Laois, a capacity of 27,000
• Healy Park, in Omagh, County Tyrone, a capacity of 26,500
• Pearse Stadium in Galway, which has hosted International rules football series games, a capacity of 26,197

Research by former Fermanagh county footballer Niall Cunningham led to the publication in 2016 by his website, gaapitchlocator.net, of a map of 1,748 GAA grounds in Ireland, ranging from 24 grounds in his own county to 171 in Cork.

Nationalism and community relations

The association has, since its inception, been closely associated with Irish nationalism, and this has continued to the present, particularly in relation to Northern Ireland, where the sports are played predominantly by members of the mainly Catholic nationalist community, and many in the Protestant unionist population consider themselves excluded by a perceived political ethos. According to one sports historian, the GAA "is arguably the most striking example of politics shaping sport in modern history".

A perception within Northern Ireland unionist circles that the GAA is a nationalist organisation is reinforced by the naming of some GAA grounds, clubs, competitions and trophies after prominent nationalists or republicans.{{cite web |access-date = 2007-04-30 |url-status = usurped |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070607232154/http://www.terracetalkireland.com/profiles/sam-maguire.htm |archive-date = 7 June 2007 |access-date = 2007-04-30 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930055321/http://www.rebelgaa.com/history/sammaguire.asp |archive-date = 30 September 2007 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110721133727/http://www.tribune.ie/archive/article/2009/sep/20/instant-expert-sam-maguire/ |archive-date = 21 July 2011

Other critics point to protectionist rules such as Rule 42 which prohibits competing, chiefly British, sports (referred to by some as "garrison games" or [[List of Gaelic Games terminology#F| foreign sports]]) from GAA grounds. As a result, the GAA became a target for loyalist paramilitaries during the Troubles when a number of GAA supporters were killed and clubhouses damaged.{{cite web | access-date=2008-03-03 | access-date=2008-03-03 | access-date=2011-01-18

Some of the protectionist rules are as follows:

Rule 42 and other sports in GAA grounds

Rule 42 (Rule 5.1 in the 2009 rulebook) prohibits the use of GAA property for games with interests in conflict with the interests of the GAA referred to by some as "garrison games" or foreign sports. Current rules state that GAA property may only be used for the purpose or in connection with the playing of games controlled by the association. Sports not considered 'in conflict' with the GAA have been permitted.

On 16 April 2005 the GAA's congress voted to temporarily relax Rule 42 and allow international soccer and rugby to be played in the stadium while Lansdowne Road Football Ground was closed for redevelopment. The first soccer and rugby union games permitted in Croke Park took place in early 2007, the first such fixture being Ireland's home match in the Six Nations Rugby Union Championship against France.

In addition to the opening of Croke Park to competing sports, local GAA units have sought to rent their facilities out to other sports organisations for financial reasons in violation of Rule 42.{{cite web | access-date=2011-03-09 | access-date=2011-03-09

Defunct rules

The GAA has had some notable rules in the past which have since been abolished. Rule 21, instituted in 1897 when it was suspected that Royal Irish Constabulary spies were trying to infiltrate the organization, prohibited members of the British forces from membership of the GAA.{{cite web | access-date=2011-02-28

Cross-community outreach in Northern Ireland

The association points out the role of members of minority religions in the membership throughout its history. For example, the Protestant Jack Boothman was president of the organisation from 1993 to 1997, while Sam Maguire was a Church of Ireland member. Nonetheless, to address concerns of unionists, the association's Ulster Council has embarked on a number of initiatives aimed at making the association and Gaelic games more accessible to northern Protestants. In November 2008, the council launched a Community Development Unit, which is responsible for "Diversity and Community Outreach initiatives". The Cúchulainn Initiative is a cross-community program aimed at establishing teams consisting of Catholic and Protestant schoolchildren with no prior playing experience.{{cite web |access-date=28 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713055644/http://www.irishdigest.com/?p=5072 |archive-date=13 July 2011 |access-date = 28 February 2011 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120329012741/http://www.u.tv/Sport/McAleese-honours-GAA-team/604edf7a-fb46-4099-8691-3ea31d37c0c2 |archive-date = 29 March 2012 David Hassan, from the University of Ulster, has written about the cross community work of the association and other sporting bodies in Ulster.

The 'Game of three-halves' cross-community coaching initiative was established in predominantly Protestant east Belfast in 2006. Organised through Knock Presbyterian Church, this scheme brings Association coaches to work alongside their soccer and rugby counterparts to involve primary school children at summer coaching camps.{{cite web |access-date=28 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718212215/http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/print/index/publications/ministers_speeches/dsd-ministers-speech-ulster-gaa.htm |archive-date=18 July 2011

Other community outreach

In January 2011, the then President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, announced the launch of an island-wide project called the "GAA Social Initiative". This aims to address the problem of isolation in rural areas where older people have limited engagement with the community.{{cite news | access-date=2 March 2011 |access-date=2 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721124611/http://www.ifa.ie/News/tabid/640/ctl/Detail/mid/2250/xmid/4314/xmfid/23/Default.aspx |archive-date=21 July 2011

Participation outside Ireland

Clubs outside Ireland

Members of the Irish diaspora have set-up clubs in a number of regions and countries outside of Ireland, and there are GAA clubs in the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada, China, continental Europe and elsewhere.

The GAA World Games were first played in Abu Dhabi in 2015. The next edition was played in Dublin in 2016 with subsequent editions to be played in Ireland every three years. The 2019 games were awarded to Waterford, but the next edition in Derry was deferred to 2023 due to the COVID pandemic.

Internationals

While some units of the association outside Ireland participate in Irish competitions, the association itself does not organise regular international games played according to the rules of either Gaelic football or hurling. However, the first international match between France and Italy was played in 2014.

Compromise rules have been reached with two "related sports".

Hurlers play an annual fixture against a national shinty team from Scotland.

International Rules Football matches have taken place between an Irish national team drawn from the ranks of Gaelic footballers, against an Australian national team drawn from the Australian Football League. The venue alternates between Ireland and Australia. In December 2006, the International series between Australia and Ireland was called off due to excessive violence in the matches, but resumed in October 2008 when Ireland won a two test series in Australia. The Irish welcomed the All Australian team at the headquarters of the GAA (Croke Park) on 21 November 2015. It was single one-off test match, which led the Irish to reclaim the Cormac McAnallen Cup by a score of 56–52.

Handball

The international dimension of Gaelic handball includes a World Championship tournament, alongside a European Tour and US Semi-Professional Tour. The 4-Wall and 1-Wall codes of the game are played around the world [with slightly different rules depending on which country one is playing in] and the World Handball Championships are organised by the World Handball Council. A European Tour has been set up with players from across Europe participating. 4-Wall Handball is played primarily in Ireland, the US and Canada while the 1-Wall code is played (in addition to the three mentioned) in Belgium, France, Holland, Italy, Spain and the UK.

Winter training ban

To address concerns about player burnout, the association adopted a rule in 2007 that prohibited collective training for inter-county players for a period of two months every winter.{{cite web |access-date=10 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213081843/http://www.joe.ie/gaa/gaa-features/the-winter-training-ban-player-expenses-and-burn-out-007552-1 |archive-date=13 December 2010 | access-date=10 March 2011

References

References

1. (8 December 2015). "About the GAA". Gaelic Athletic Association.
2. "Membership". Gaelic Athletic Association.
3. Keys, Colm. (2 February 2023). "GAA earn record revenue of €96.1m as gate receipts return to normal".
4. "Attendance at Live Sports Events by Adults in Northern Ireland: Findings from the Continuous Household Survey 2011/12". DCAL.
5. (1 November 2009). "GAA mark 125th anniversary". [[RTÉ Sport]].
6. "Athletic Ireland".
7. (1 January 1886). "The New Year's Day Issue of the Irish Fireside contents". [[Freeman's Journal]].
8. "GAAs Official Guide". Gaelic Athletic Association.
9. "National Handball Centre".
10. [http://www.gaapitchlocator.net/ GAA Pitch Locator]
11. Hughes, Brendan. (12 February 2016). "The land of saints and scholars and GAA pitches". The Irish News.
12. English, Richard. (2007). "Irish Freedom: The History of Nationalism in Ireland". Pan Books.
13. Connolly, S. J.. (2007). "Oxford Companion to Irish History". Oxford University Press.
14. "Sport and Community Relations in Northern Ireland".
15. Cronin, M. (2000), "Catholics and Sport in Northern Ireland: Exclusiveness or Inclusiveness?", ''International Sports Studies'', Volume 22, Number 1, 2000, p.33-34. Available at [http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/ISS/ISS2201/ISS2201d.pdf] {{Webarchive. link. (27 March 2009.)
16. Cronin, M. (2000), "Catholics and Sport in Northern Ireland: Exclusiveness or Inclusiveness?", ''International Sports Studies'', Volume 22, Number 1, 2000, p.26. Available at [http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/ISS/ISS2201/ISS2201d.pdf] {{Webarchive. link. (27 March 2009. Viewed 18-09-2009.)
17. R. Holt (1992), ''Sport and the British: a modern history'', p. 240, Oxford. Cited in Garnham, N: ''Association Football and society in pre-partition Ireland'', page 135. Ulster Historical Foundation, 2004
18. John Sugden and Scott Harvie. (1995). "Sport and Community Relations in Northern Ireland". Centre for the Study of Conflict.
19. "The GAA is perceived by the Unionist community as a sectarian organisation ...", Sugden, J. (1995) "Sport, Community Relations and Community Conflict in Northern Ireland", p.203, in Seamus Dunn (ed) ''Facets of the Conflict in Northern Ireland''. London: MacMillan Press Ltd. Cited in Northern Ireland Assembly Research Paper 26/01 (2001), ''Sectarianism and Sport in Northern Ireland''. Available at http://archive.niassembly.gov.uk/research_papers/research/2601.pdf. Retrieved 18-09-2009.
20. Sugden, 1995, p.203
21. (2007-02-03). "A long way from Dublin's bloody past". BBC News.
22. Paul Ward (2004), Britishness since 1870. p. 79, London: Routledge
23. Tim Pat Coogan (2000), Wherever the Green Is Worn, p.179. New York:Palgrave.
24. "2009 official guide part1".
25. "Ireland must wait to enjoy Croke craic".
26. O'Rourke, Colm. (13 March 2011). "There is no more room for vanity projects in the GAA". Sunday Independent.
27. (2001-11-19). "Rule 21 is 'history' says GAA president – Northern Ireland News". 4ni.co.uk.
28. (24 September 2005). "GAA sanctions Rule 21 abolition". RTÉ.
29. (25 September 2012). "How President's soccer 'insult' led to war with GAA".
30. "Archives – The Ban Removed – 1971". RTÉ.
31. (11 November 2008). "Ulster Council to launch new strategic unit". [[The Irish News]].
32. (21 October 2008). "Council making plans". [[The Irish News]].
33. (8 December 2015). "About the GAA". Gaelic Athletic Association.
34. McAuley, John. (2015-03-01). "Abu Dhabi to host inaugural GAA World Games to celebrate Irish sport". The National.
35. Doxey, Randle. (2019-08-02). "The 2019 Renault GAA World Games at the WIT Arena, Waterford". Munster Express.
36. O'Connell, Cian. (18 August 2023). "Successful FRS Recruitment GAA World Games staged last month". Gaelic Athletic Association.
37. Gallagher, Mark. (2014-11-16). "Get set for a Franco-italian battle ...GAA style!". Irish Mail on Sunday.
38. (29 May 2008). "International Rules Series games confirmed". RTÉ Sport.
39. (31 October 2008). "Ireland clinch series win at MCG". BBC Sport.
40. (21 September 2011). "Handballers could strike Olympic gold".
41. "The Worlds Explained".
42. (May 2024). "European 1-Wall".
43. (11 January 2020). "The 2019/20 Race 4 Eight IX Tour Schedule is Set!". World Players of Handball (Organisers of the American "Race 4 Eight" Pro handball tour..
44. "Home".