The Gaelic Athletic Association is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, Gaelic handball, and rounders. The association also promotes Irish music and dance, as well as the Irish language and it also promotes environmental stewardship through its Green Clubs initiative.
Croke Park is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). Since 1891 the site has been used by the GAA to host Gaelic sports, including the annual All-Ireland finals in Gaelic football and hurling.
International rules football is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international representative matches between Australian rules football players and Gaelic football players.
Breffni Park, known for sponsorship reasons as Kingspan Breffni, is a GAA stadium in Cavan, Ireland. It is the home of Cavan GAA. The ground has an overall capacity of about 25,030 with a 5,030 seated capacity. Breffni is the historic name for the area of counties Cavan and Leitrim. Cavan is often referred to as the Breffni County. Kingspan Breffni is located on Park Lane to the south of Cavan town. Breffni Park hosted the first test in the 2006 Ladies' International Rules Series between Ireland and Australia. It also hosted the first test during the 2013 International Rules Series.
Ladies' Gaelic football is an Irish team sport for women. It is the women's equivalent of Gaelic football. Ladies' football is organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association. Two teams of 15 players kick or hand-pass a round ball towards goals at each end of a grass pitch. The sport is an all island sport played in all 4 provinces of Ireland, where the two main competitions are the All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship and the Ladies' National Football League. Both competitions feature teams representing the traditional Gaelic games counties. The 2017 All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship final was the best attended women's sports final of 2017. The 2019 final, after the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, was the second largest attendance at any women's sporting final during 2019. Historically Cork and Kerry have been the sport's most successful counties. Waterford, Monaghan and Mayo have also experienced spells of success. In more recent years, 2017 to 2020, Dublin have been the dominant team.
In Ireland, Australian rules football began in 1999 when clubs were simultaneously formed in Dublin and Belfast, however awareness of it dates back to the 20th century due to similarities with Gaelic football. It has subsequently becoming a source of players for professional leagues in Australia, particularly the Australian Football League (AFL) and later the AFL Women's (AFLW) through the Irish Experiment which is ongoing. It attracts a television audience, particularly the AFLW competition through TG4. There are two governing bodies, AFL Ireland and AFL Northern Ireland, with teams and competitions in Belfast, Cork, Dublin and Galway.
The Australia women's international rules football team was organised by Women's Football Australia and represented Australia in the 2006 Ladies' International Rules Series against Ireland. As of 2019, this is the only series the team has played. Ireland won the series, winning the first test at Breffni Park by 134–15 and the second test at Parnell Park by 39–18.
The 2006 International Rules Series was the 13th annual International Rules Series and was played between Ireland and Australia.
The International Rules Series is a senior men's international rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team and the Ireland international rules football team. International rules football is played using a set of compromise rules devised by both governing bodies. While the International Rules Series matches use some rules from Australian rules football, the field, ball and uniforms of both teams are derived from Gaelic football.
The 1998 International Rules Series was the fifth annual series between Gaelic footballers from the Gaelic Athletic Association and Australian rules footballers from the Australian Football League and the first since it was cancelled in 1990. It was part of a four-year agreement. Ireland and Australia both won a game however Ireland won the overall series by 10 points in aggregate.
The Irish Experiment is the popular name for the interest, primarily from VFL/AFL clubs, in bringing Irish sportspeople, particularly Gaelic footballers, to Australia to play Australian rules football professionally. The AFL's focus on Gaelic footballers is due to the similarities between the sports.
The 2010 International Rules Series was the 15th International Rules Series, contested between Gaelic football players from Ireland and Australian rules football players from Australia. The Series was won by Australia, winning the first test by seven points and the second test by three, thereby winning with an aggregate score of 102 to 92. This was the first time Australia have won the Cormac McAnallen Cup since 2006. Dane Swan was awarded the Jim Stynes Medal, for being Australia best player over the Series, while Colm Begley won the equivalent award for Ireland. The second test in Croke Park on 30 October marked the end of the broadcasting career of commentator Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh who commentated on his last live match on RTÉ Radio.
The 2013 International Rules Series was the 17th International Rules Series contested between Gaelic footballers from Ireland and Australian footballers from Australia. Ireland entered the 2013 series as defending champions, whilst Australia were, for the first time in the series, represented by an exclusively Indigenous team, known as the Indigenous All-Stars.
The 2015 International Rules Series was contested between Gaelic footballers from Ireland and Australian footballers from Australia. The 19th series of International rules football since the concept's inception in 1984, Australia entered the test as defending champions, following their 10-point victory in the solitary test match in 2014. The match was played at Croke Park, the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association, on Saturday, 21 November.
The 2017 International Rules Series was the 20th International Rules Series contested by Gaelic footballers from Ireland and Australian footballers from Australia. The series was hosted by Australia and was the first in four years to revert to an aggregate points format. The two test matches were played on 12 and 18 November 2017 at the Adelaide Oval and Domain Stadium.
John Horan is a Gaelic games administrator who served as 39th president of the GAA. He was chairman of the Leinster Council from 2014 to 2017 and was previously vice-chairman from 2011 to 2014. A member of the Na Fianna club in Glasnevin, Horan was the first Dublin-born GAA president since 1924 when Daniel McCarthy finished his three-year term. He is a retired secondary school principal.
The 2006 Ladies' International Rules Series was the first and, as of 2019, the only ladies' International rules football series played between Ireland and Australia. The series was played at the same time as the men's 2006 International Rules Series. Ireland won the series, claiming the first test at Breffni Park by 134–15 and the second test at Parnell Park by 39–18. The series was broadcast live by TG4 and Setanta Sports.
The 2020 Leinster Senior Football Championship final was played at Croke Park in Dublin on 21 November 2020. It was contested by Dublin and Meath. Dublin won a tenth consecutive title.
The COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland has had a significant impact on the conduct of sports, affecting both competitive sports leagues and tournaments and recreational sports.
As with other sports, the COVID-19 pandemic caused disruption to Gaelic games, primarily in Ireland but also elsewhere in the world. Competitions were cancelled, postponed or restructured, while some teams were withdrawn or were unable to participate in those competitions that went ahead.
