Gaelic Athletic Association facts for kids
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Cumann Lúthchleas Gael
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| Formation | 1 November 1884 in Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland |
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| Founded at | Hayes' Hotel, Thurles |
| Type | Sports association |
| Purpose | The management and promotion of Gaelic games, and promotion of Irish culture and language |
| Headquarters | Croke Park |
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Region served
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Worldwide |
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Membership (2014)
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≈ 500,000 |
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Official language
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Irish |
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President
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Jarlath Burns |
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Main organ
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Central Council |
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Staff
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Limited full-time staff |
| Website | gaa.ie |
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is a big Irish sports and culture group. It mainly promotes traditional Irish sports called Gaelic games. These games include hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, Gaelic handball, and GAA rounders. The GAA also helps to share Irish music, dance, and the Irish language. It even works to protect the environment through its Green Clubs program.
In 2014, the GAA had over 500,000 members. Gaelic football and hurling are the most popular sports run by the GAA. They are also the most popular sports in the Republic of Ireland when it comes to people watching them. Gaelic football is also very popular for people playing it in Northern Ireland.
The women's versions of these games, ladies' Gaelic football and camogie, are managed by separate but connected groups. These are the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association and the Camogie Association of Ireland. GAA Handball looks after handball, and the GAA Rounders National Council manages rounders. Since it started in 1884, the GAA has become a huge part of Irish sports and culture. It reaches communities all over Ireland and among Irish people living abroad.
Contents
How the GAA Started
The Gaelic Athletic Association began on 1 November 1884. A group of Irishmen met in Hayes' Hotel in Thurles, County Tipperary. They wanted to create a group to protect and promote Ireland's unique games and athletic activities.
The main people who started the GAA were Michael Cusack and Maurice Davin. Maurice Davin became the first president. Important figures like Archbishop Croke and Charles Stewart Parnell were asked to support the new group. In 1922, the GAA handed over the job of promoting general athletics to another group.
GAA Competitions
The GAA organizes many exciting competitions. These happen at different levels, from local clubs to national championships. For example, the best club teams from each county play in provincial competitions. The winners of these then go on to play in national finals, known as the All-Ireland championships.
Cultural Activities
The GAA has always been keen on promoting Irish culture. It has a special part of the group called Scór, which means "score" in Irish. Scór runs competitions in Irish music, singing, dancing, and storytelling.
One of the GAA's main rules says:
The Association shall actively support the Irish language, traditional Irish dancing, music, song, and other aspects of Irish culture. It shall foster an awareness and love of the national ideals in the people of Ireland, and assist in promoting a community spirit through its clubs.
Scór was officially started in 1969. It is promoted through GAA clubs across Ireland and even in some clubs outside Ireland.
GAA Stadiums
The GAA has many stadiums all over Ireland and in other countries. Almost every county and club has its own grounds where they play games. These grounds vary in size and facilities.
Clubs usually play their early championship games at their own grounds. Later rounds, like quarter-finals and finals, are often held at a county ground. This is usually where the main inter-county games take place. Provincial championship finals are often played at the same venue each year.
Croke Park: The Main Stadium
Croke Park in Dublin is the GAA's most important stadium. People often call it Croker or Headquarters because it's also where the GAA's main offices are. It can hold 82,300 people, making it one of the largest stadiums in Europe.
Every September, Croke Park hosts the All-Ireland Hurling and Football Finals. These are the biggest games of the summer championships. Croke Park also hosts the All-Ireland club finals. The stadium is named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, who was an early supporter of the GAA.
The Croke Park area also has the National Handball Centre. This new centre is the home of GAA Handball and hosts the All-Ireland Gaelic Handball finals.
Other Large GAA Stadiums
After Croke Park, the next three biggest stadiums are all in the province of Munster:
- Semple Stadium in Thurles, County Tipperary, can hold 53,000 people.
- The Gaelic Grounds in Limerick can hold 50,000 people.
- Páirc Uí Chaoimh in County Cork can hold 45,000 people.
Other large GAA stadiums that can hold over 25,000 people include:
- Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney (43,180 capacity)
- MacHale Park in Castlebar (42,000 capacity)
- St Tiernach's Park in Clones, County Monaghan (36,000 capacity)
- Kingspan Breffni Park in Cavan Town, County Cavan (32,000 capacity)
- Casement Park in Belfast (about 31,500 capacity before it closed in 2013)
- Nowlan Park in Kilkenny (27,800 capacity)
- O'Moore Park in Portlaoise, County Laois (27,000 capacity)
- Healy Park in Omagh, County Tyrone (26,500 capacity)
- Pearse Stadium in Galway (26,197 capacity)
GAA and Community Relations
The GAA has always been connected to Irish identity. In Northern Ireland, most people who play Gaelic sports are from the Catholic community. Some people from the Protestant community have felt left out because of the GAA's history and links to Irish nationalism.
The GAA has named some of its grounds, clubs, and trophies after important Irish nationalist figures. Also, there was a rule called Rule 42. This rule used to stop other sports, sometimes called "foreign sports," from being played in GAA stadiums. Because of this, the GAA was sometimes targeted during a period of conflict known as the Troubles.
Rule 42 and Other Sports
Rule 42 (now Rule 5.1) used to stop GAA grounds from being used for sports that were seen as competing with Gaelic games. However, some sports that were not seen as 'in conflict' were allowed.
In 2005, the GAA decided to temporarily change Rule 42. This allowed international soccer and rugby games to be played in Croke Park while another stadium, Lansdowne Road, was being rebuilt. The first soccer and rugby games were played there in 2007.
While Croke Park can earn money by renting out its facilities for other sports, smaller local GAA clubs usually cannot. This has caused some discussion.
Old Rules No Longer Used
The GAA used to have some rules that are no longer in place.
- Rule 21 was created in 1897. It stopped members of the British forces from joining the GAA. This rule was removed in 2001.
- Rule 27, also known as The Ban, started in 1901. It stopped GAA members from playing or even watching non-Gaelic games. For example, Douglas Hyde, who was a GAA supporter and later President of Ireland, was removed from the GAA for watching a soccer game. Rule 27 was removed in 1971.
Working with All Communities
The GAA has always had members from different backgrounds, including Protestant members. To help address concerns from unionists in Northern Ireland, the GAA's Ulster Council has started programs to make Gaelic games more welcoming to everyone.
In 2008, they launched a "Community Development Unit" to work on "Diversity and Community Outreach." The Cúchulainn Initiative is one such program. It creates teams of Catholic and Protestant schoolchildren who have never played Gaelic games before. These teams have even competed in the USA. Similar teams have started in other areas.
Another program, "Game of three-halves," began in 2006 in east Belfast. GAA coaches work with soccer and rugby coaches to teach primary school children at summer camps. The Ulster Council is also building connections with other cultural groups and churches.
Other Community Work
In 2011, the then President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, launched the "GAA Social Initiative." This project helps older people in rural areas who might feel lonely or cut off from their community. The initiative later partnered with the Irish Farmers Association to get more volunteers involved.
GAA Around the World
Clubs Outside Ireland
Many Irish people living abroad have set up GAA clubs. You can find GAA clubs in places like the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada, China, and across Europe.
The GAA World Games started in Abu Dhabi in 2015. The next games were held in Dublin in 2016. These games are now planned to happen in Ireland every three years. The 2019 games were in Waterford, and the 2023 games were in Derry.
International Games
While GAA clubs outside Ireland sometimes play in Irish competitions, the GAA itself doesn't regularly organize international games using Gaelic football or hurling rules. However, the first international match between France and Italy was played in 2014.
The GAA does have special games with two related sports:
- Hurling players play an annual game against a national shinty team from Scotland.
- International Rules Football matches happen between an Irish team (made of Gaelic footballers) and an Australian team (made of Australian Rules Football players). These games switch between Ireland and Australia. The Irish team won the Cormac McAnallen Cup in 2015.
Handball Internationals
Gaelic handball is played around the world. There's a World Championship tournament, a European Tour, and a US Semi-Professional Tour. The World Handball Council organizes the World Handball Championships.
Player Rest Period
To help players avoid getting too tired or "burned out," the GAA made a rule in 2007. It stopped inter-county players from training together for two months every winter. This rule has been a bit tricky to enforce, as teams sometimes find ways to train informally to stay competitive.
See also
In Spanish: Asociación Atlética Gaélica para niños
- GAA GPA All Stars Awards
- GAA rounders
- Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh
- Féile na nGael
- Sport in Ireland
Images for kids
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Áras Mhic Eiteagáin clubhouse in Gweedore, County Donegal. This is a typical clubhouse found in rural areas across Ireland.
