In terms of participation, association football (soccer) is the most popular team pursuit for males at 8.8% with Gaelic football attracting 3.4%.[3] Personal exercise (at 13.4%) and running (8.9%) are the most popular individual male activities. Traditionally, team sports do not figure highly amongst females, with a greater percentage of post-school-age women choosing individual sports and fitness activities.[4] As of 2018, additional funding and focus was afforded to females in sport, with a number of successes in women's international sporting competitions.[5][6] Association football (soccer) is the most played team sport in Ireland.[1] Gaelic football, hurling, golf, aerobics, cycling, swimming and billiards/snooker are the other sporting activities with the highest levels of participation in the Republic of Ireland.[1]
In terms of support and attendance, Gaelic football accounted for 34% of total sports attendances at events in the Republic of Ireland in 2003, followed by hurling at 23%, association football (soccer) at 16% and rugby at 8%.[7] In 2005, Initiative's ViewerTrack study measuring sports audiences showed that Gaelic football's highest-profile match, the All-Ireland Football Championship Final, was the most watched event of the nation's sporting year.[8]
In terms of funding, of the €62 million allocated in the Irish government's 2017 Capital Sports Programme, approximately €25 million was allocated to hurling, Gaelic football and other games overseen by the Gaelic Athletic Association, €7.7 million to soccer, €3.3 million to rugby, €2.8 million to tennis, golf €2.4 million, sailing and rowing €1.3 million each, boxing and athletics over €1 million each, swimming €0.5 million, with the remainder allocated among other sports and sporting groups.[9]
Croke Park in Dublin is the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association.
The sport may be referred to as Gaelic football or Gaelic, if confusion might otherwise arise with association football, but is referred to simply as 'football' within the sport itself, such as the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. Though it has existed for centuries in Ireland as Caid, Gaelic football was formally arranged into an organised playing code by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in the late nineteenth century.[11][12][13] In terms of support and attendance, it is the most popular sport in Ireland.[7]
The game is played at underage, minor (under 18), under 21 and adult levels. All players are amateur, although players at a high level may receive income from sources such as sponsorship and grants. Gaelic footballers play for a local club or parish team, with the best chosen for the inter-county sides. County players may be chosen to play in inter-provincial Railway Cup games or for the 'International Rules' team to face Australia. The main national competitions are the inter-county All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and National Football League, also known as the NFL.[citation needed]
A Gaelic football year starts with pre-season competitions and the National Football League. In early summer, the Championship begins. Each of the four provinces has its own tournament, and teams which are knocked out must do well in the 'qualifiers' if they are to gain a spot along with the four Provincial Champions in the All-Ireland quarter-finals. The All-Ireland Senior Football final is traditionally held on the third Sunday in September. Kerry are football's most successful team, with 37 All-Ireland senior titles. There are a number of rivalries within the game – an example is that between Dublin and Meath. Other notable derbies or rivalries include Cork v Kerry, Mayo v Galway, Kerry v Dublin and Tyrone v Donegal.[citation needed]
Hurling
Hurling is a sport native to Ireland for several thousand years, organized by the Gaelic Athletic Association. In terms of attendance figures, hurling is second only to Gaelic football.[14] Hurling is sometimes described as the "fastest field sport in the world", as the ball is continually played at high speeds.[15]
The game has similarities to shinty and hockey. However the ball (or sliotar) is rarely played along the ground. Hurling is played on a large grass pitch.[citation needed]
Many aspects of the organisation of hurling are similar to football, as both sports are organised by the GAA. Amateurism and the club/county/province structure are similar. Gaelic football has a larger footprint in terms of top-level competition, but in several counties where both sports are played, hurling sometimes holds precedence, and in certain parts of the country, it is the dominant game (Kilkenny, rural Antrim, Ards peninsula in County Down, and Clare, for example). Hurling is well-attended at elite level and the highest-level games fill Croke Park to its capacity of over 82,000. The main competitions are the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the Leinster and Munster provincial championships and the National Hurling League (NHL).[citation needed]
Camogie, played exclusively by women, is similar to hurling although a smaller sliotar is used, there is the option to hand-pass into the goal, and the dress code requires players to wear a skort. The first game of camogie was played in County Meath in 1904.[17]
Gaelic handball
Gaelic handball, or simply 'handball', like the related sport of American handball, somewhat resembles squash or racquetball, but with the ball played or struck with the hand or fist instead of a racquet. It has no connection with the Olympic sport of handball which has limited following in Ireland, where it is generally known as Olympic handball.[citation needed]
In Ireland, there are four main types of handball. These are 40x20 (small court), the traditional 60x30 Softball and Hardball (big alley) and One-wall handball. Handball is played with a variety of balls. Gloves and eyeguards are compulsory for some competitions. The sport is managed and promoted by GAA Handball, a subsidiary body of the GAA.[citation needed]
Rounders
Rounders (Irish: cluiche corr) is regulated by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, and is similar to baseball. Game-play centers around innings where teams alternate at turns being batters and fielders. Points ("rounders") are scored by the batting team by completing a circuit around the field through four bases[citation needed]
Martin O'Neill played for the Northern Ireland national team as a soccer player and subsequently managed the Republic of Ireland national team.
Association football is a popular sport in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland but while international matches play before large crowds, and are passionately followed, domestic league games typically attract smaller attendances.[18] English football leagues are also popular in Ireland, with a survey in February 2020 indicating that up to 40,000 Irish fans travel to games in England on a "regular basis".[19]
The domestic leagues are the League of Ireland (in the Republic) and the NIFL Premiership (or Irish League) (Northern Ireland). Some of the major teams in Ireland include Shamrock Rovers, Dundalk FC and Shelbourne FC in the Republic, Glentoran and Linfield in Northern Ireland, and Derry City, a team from the North who play in the League of Ireland. Due to the financial incentives abroad, most of Ireland's top players, such as Damien Duff, John O'Shea, Aiden McGeady and Jonny Evans, play in the leagues of larger European countries, particularly in England and Scotland. This, along with the Irish media's huge coverage of the English league, is one of the reasons why Irish people tend to support leading British clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Celtic. Only occasionally does a League of Ireland or Irish League player make either of the national teams, despite the fact that the leagues sometimes produce some of Ireland's top players including internationals Kevin Doyle, Shane Long and Gareth McAuley and players like Roy Keane in the past.[citation needed]
The Milk Cup is an international youth tournament held annually in Northern Ireland, in which clubs and national teams from elsewhere in the world may compete. Northern Ireland also played host to the 2005 UEFA Under-19 European Championships.[citation needed]
Rugby union is played and supported throughout Ireland, and is especially popular in urban areas such as Dublin, Limerick, Belfast in Northern Ireland, and Cork. Rugby union is played at club, province and national levels. The Ireland national team is composed of players from both Northern Ireland and the Republic, and the Irish Rugby Football Union governs the sport throughout the island. The sport is organised at all levels on an all-island basis through a provincial structure of four unions, with each province organising one professional team in elite competition.
Success at international level and the establishment of four professional teams has increased interest in rugby union as a sport in Ireland, particularly as a spectator sport.[20] At the 2018 World Rugby Awards, Ireland had been presented with a 'hat-trick' of awards, with Johnny Sexton winning the Player of the Year, Joe Schmidt the Coach of the Year, and the national squad the Team of the Year awards.[21] As of July 2022, following two defeats of New Zealand, the Ireland national rugby union team was ranked 1st in the World Rugby Rankings, but has never progressed beyond the quarter finals of the men's Rugby World Cup.
Boxing is overseen by the Boxing Union of Ireland and Irish Athletic Boxing Association. Amateur boxers account for sixteen of Ireland's 31 Olympic medals, including two Olympic gold medals. Ireland's amateur boxers have also won medals at numerous top level competitions worldwide including World Senior Championships, European Senior Championships, World Junior Championships, World Youth Championships, European Junior Championships and European Youth Championships.
As of 2023, large-scale professional boxing events have not taken place in Ireland since a 2016 gangland shooting at a weigh-in at the Regency hotel in Dublin.[22]
Athletics in Ireland is governed by Athletics Ireland, and in Northern Ireland by Athletics Northern Ireland.[23] Athletics has seen some of the Ireland's highest performers at the Olympics, with several Irish athletes performing well for both the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain & Northern Ireland at the games over the years. Denis Horgan won the shot put 13 times at the AAAs, (still holding a title for greatest number of individual titles won), before emigrating to the United States where he won a number of American titles. Horgan also broke the world record on several occasions and silver at the 1908 Olympics. Dr. Pat O'Callaghan (also from North Cork) won the hammer throw in 1928 and again in 1932 at the Olympic Games. Bob Tisdall also won gold for Ireland in 1932, competing in the 400m hurdles. In the late 20th and early 21st century, notable athletes have included Ron Delany, Mary Peters, John Treacy, Eamonn Coghlan, Sonia O'Sullivan and Robert Heffernan.
The various equestrian sports have a sizeable following in Ireland. After Gaelic games, horse racing is the second most attended sport in the country, with around 1.3 million attendees annually. That is the largest number of horseracing fans in any country on a per capita basis.[25]
Overall administration of Irish horse-racing is carried out by Horse Racing Ireland. Horse Racing Ireland is responsible for racing in both the Republic of Ireland, which has 24 racecourses, and in Northern Ireland, which has 2 racecourses. Ireland's top tracks are the Curragh and Fairyhouse. The breeding industry (including the world's largest thoroughbred breeding operation, Coolmore Stud) has produced many top race horses.[27]
Golf
Strandhill Golf Course in County Sligo, one of many coastal golf courses throughout Ireland
As of the early 21st century, golf is among the most-played sports in the country, with a 2008 report for the Irish Sports Council indicating that golf was then the fourth most popular sport by participation rate.[28] Ireland was the first country to organise the sport on a national basis, with two "oldest governing bodies in world golf", the Golfing Union of Ireland (GUI) and the Irish Ladies Golf Union (ILGU), being formed in 1891 and 1893 respectively.[29][30]
There are over 400 golf clubs throughout the island, and over 300 courses in the Republic of Ireland, and (as of 2009) Ireland reportedly had the fourth most golf courses per capita in the world,[31] Among Ireland's most famous golf courses are Royal County Down Golf Club, Royal Portrush Golf Club, Portmarnock, Ballybunion and Lahinch. The most prestigious tournament of Ireland is the Irish Open, which is held on courses in the four provinces. Also, the K Club in County Kildare hosted the European Open from 1995 to 2007. Golf is regularly televised in Ireland, with both domestic and international events broadcast.
Cricket has been played in Ireland since the early 19th century, and the game against Scotland (a match which has first-class status) has been played annually since 1909.
The sport is organised on an all-island basis and is overseen by the Irish Cricket Union, founded in its present incarnation in 1923. Ireland has entered some domestic English tournaments since the early 1980s, but becoming an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council in 1993 paved the way for participation in international competition. Ireland co-hosted the 1999 Cricket World Cup. It is most popular in Northern Ireland and Dublin.[citation needed]
The Ireland cricket team was among the associate nations that qualified for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. It defeated Pakistan and finished second in its pool, earning a place in the Super 8 stage of the competition. The team also competed in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, and won the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier to secure a place in the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Kevin O'Brien scored the fastest century in World Cup history (113 runs off 63 balls), as Ireland produced one of the great upsets to defeat England by 3 wickets in the 2011 tournament. In 2017, domestic cricket in Ireland was recognized as first-class cricket for the first time, and was granted Test status in 2017.[32]
Ireland and South Africa in the 2008 AFL International Cup
Australian rules football has gained a following in Ireland which has increased mainly due to the International rules series that takes place annually between Australia and Ireland. In October 2000, the Australian Rules Football League of Ireland was established, and a representative Irish team took part in the 2005 Australian Football International Cup. The Irish Green Machine became inaugural International champions in 2002. They have been finalists in every AFL International Cup since and were 2011 International Cup champions. Belfast and Dublin have been hosts to the AFL Euro Cup.[37]
Chess
The Irish Chess Union (ICU), formed in 1912, is the governing body for chess in Ireland and a member of FIDE since 1933 and the European Chess Union. The ICU promotes Chess in Ireland and maintains the chess rating for players in Ireland, which are published three times a year. It runs competitions such as the Irish Chess Championship and selects teams to participate in international competitions for Ireland.[38]
Croquet
Croquet was first played in Ireland in the 1830s. The governing association of the sport is the Croquet Association of Ireland. Most international matches and large tournaments are played at the Carrickmines Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, near Dublin.[39]
Cycling
There are many regional cycling clubs throughout the country and competitions are organised regularly, the largest non-professional event being the Rás (Irish for race).[40] The main governing body is Cycling Ireland which is responsible for cycling throughout the island. Ireland's most famous cyclists are Stephen Roche, who won both the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia in 1987; and Sean Kelly, who won the Vuelta a España in 1988, the sprinter's green jersey in the Tour de France four times, the Paris-Nice seven times in succession as well as four of the five 'Monuments'. Mountain biking is supported by a number of dedicated trail centers in Wicklow, Dublin, Galway and Tipperary. For competitive mountain bikers, there is a National Cross-Country series, a National Downhill series and a National Enduro series. BMX events are undertaken at the Ratoath BMX track in County Meath, and an indoor BMX track in Cherry Orchard in County Dublin.
Since 2005, skateparks (for skateboarding, rollerblading, and other sports) have been developed in several places, including in Greystones, Bushy park (Dublin) and Lucan (Dublin). Modular parks can be found in other parts of Ireland.[46]
Greyhound racing began in Ireland in 1927; there were greyhound races in Celtic Park in Belfast on 18 April of that year and the Shelbourne Park greyhound stadium opened in Dublin four weeks later. Hare coursing was already a well established sport in the country and greyhounds were bred for racing in Ireland from the very start. Mick the Miller, winner of the English Derby in 1929 and 1930, was an Irish greyhound and Ireland continues to export greyhounds.[citation needed]
There are twenty licensed greyhound stadiums in Ireland. There are seventeen in the Republic where the licensing authority is Bord na gCon, the Irish Greyhound Board. This is a semi-state body and was established by the Irish government in 1958. The three stadiums in Northern Ireland are licensed by the Irish Coursing Club, which also organises hare coursing throughout the Island.[citation needed]
Gymnastics
Gymnastics Ireland logo
Gymnastics is governed by Irish Gymnastics, trading as Gymnastics Ireland, which was formed in 1999,[50] following the merging of the Irish Amateur Gymnastics Association and the Irish Sports Acrobatics Federation. There are 83 registered gymnastics clubs in Ireland (including Northern Ireland). Gymnastics includes four Olympic disciplines, women's artistic gymnastics, men's artistic gymnastics, trampoline gymnastics, and rhythmic gymnastics, and four non-Olympic disciplines, acrobatic gymnastics, tumbling gymnastics, gymnastics for all, and sports aerobics.
While still a minority sport in Ireland, there are a number of Kendo clubs based in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Cavan.[52] The Irish Kendo Federation is the governing body for the country.[53] The Irish National Kendo Squad participates in the European Kendo Championships and the World Kendo Championships, as well as other international competitions. The main Kendo event in Ireland is the annual Irish National Championships (INC) which takes place in June each year.
The National Governing Body of Martial Arts in Ireland, as appointed by the Irish Sports Council, is the Irish Martial Arts Commission.[54] The Irish Martial Arts Commission represents the martial arts of Aikido, Ju-Jitsu, Karate, Kendo, Kickboxing, Kung-Fu, TaeKwon-Do, Ninjutsu, Sambo and Tai Chi.[55] The executive committee of the Irish Martial Arts Commission is made up of 2 representative elected within the membership of each Martial Art.
Taekwondo and Karate are represented by various clubs throughout the country. The All-Ireland Taekwondo Association works to promote the sport and to organise competitions.[56] Kickboxing Ireland (formally known as Allstyles Kickboxing Association of Ireland) was founded in 1985 to unify and structure the sport in Ireland. It was recognised by the Irish Sports Council as a national governing body of sport in 1993 under the auspices of the Irish Martial Arts Commission.[57]
Motorsport
Motorsport also has a presence in Ireland with Motorsport Ireland being the governing body throughout the country.[58]Rallying is one popular form of motorsport, with three major Rally Championships taking place every year, each hosting 6-7 rally events across the country. These include the Donegal International Rally, West Cork Rally, Galway International Rally and others. Ireland also hosted a round of the World Rally Championship in 2007 and 2009, with stages being held in the Republic and also across the border in Northern Ireland, and was a stage candidate in 2016.[59]
Circuit racing is also present in the country with Ireland having only one international venue, Mondello Park in County Kildare which formerly hosted rounds of several international events and still hosts national events today. The country has produced many drivers who climbed the international ladder such as Derek Daly, Peter Dempsey, Tommy Byrne, Eddie Jordan and David Kennedy. Kart racing and stock car racing are also a popular forms of circuit racing in Ireland.[citation needed]
Motorcycle racing in Ireland is governed by Motorcycling Ireland. Established in 1902, it is the oldest motorcycle sport federation in the world.[60]
Olympic Handball
Olympic Handball is a minority sport in Ireland, with the Irish Olympic Handball Association acting as the national governing body. In 2011, Ireland hosted the European Challenge Trophy in Olympic Handball (a competition for developing nations).[61]
Orienteering
Orienteering in Ireland is regulated by the Irish Orienteering Association. Every two years, the Shamrock o-Ringen, Ireland's largest Orienteering event, is held in Cork or Kerry. Irish orienteers compete at all levels, sometimes reaching the finals at the World Orienteering Championships.[62]
Tennis, badminton, racquetball and squash are common in Ireland. In Tennis, Tennis Ireland is the governing body and runs several competitions between the approximately 200 clubs throughout Ireland. Ireland competes in tennis internationally in the Davis Cup (men's) and the Fed Cup (ladies). Ireland had had a prominent tennis tournament, the Irish Open, in the past, which was considered an important tournament prior to the establishment of world championship events in 1913. The men's event was abolished in 1979, and the women's event was abolished in 1983 - however, it remains as a lower-tier ITF tournament.[71] Badminton in Ireland is run by the BUI.
Road bowling
Irish Road Bowling is an ancient sport. It is centred in Ireland (particularly Cork and Armagh) but is also played in the United States and the United Kingdom. Similar sports are played in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy and since the 1960s there have been international championships held with athletes participating from these countries.[citation needed]
Rowing
Rowing in Ireland is regulated by Rowing Ireland. During the winter, there are Head of the River Races (processional timed races) and during the summer there are Regattas (side by side racing). The Irish Championships are held at the National Rowing Centre in County Cork.
Sailing in Ireland is governed and regulated by the Irish Sailing Association in Dún Laoghaire. Events are organised by the various clubs on the coasts and on the reservoirs and lakes. The first sailing club was the Cork Water Club (now the Royal Cork Yacht Club), which was founded in 1720.[76]
Snooker and pool
Snooker and pool hold some interest in Ireland,[1] with media coverage of most major international tournaments. The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have produced some of the world's most successful snooker players, including Ken Doherty, Alex Higgins and Dennis Taylor.
Member of the Irish Team competing in 10m Women's Air Pistol at InterShoot 2012Member of the Irish Team competing in 10m Women's Air Rifle at InterShoot 2012
Target shooting
Target shooting in Ireland comprises a number of disciplines. These include the Olympic rifle and pistol shooting disciplines (administered by the NTSA),[77] metallic silhouette shooting (administered by the NSAI),[78] precision pistol, benchrest rifle, gallery rifle and sporting rifle disciplines (administered by the NASRPC),[79] the Tetrathlon (administered by the Pony Club) and Olympic Penthathlon (administered by the Modern Pentathlon Association of Ireland), both Olympic and non-Olympic clay pigeon shooting (administered by the ICPSA)[80] and various long-range rifle shooting disciplines (administered by the NRAI).[81]
Ireland has had representation at international target shooting competitions, including the Olympic Games.[82] The Irish Olympic clay pigeon team won the World Championships team event in Olympic Trap in 2002 and Irish shooter Philip Murphy claimed the silver medal in the 2007 World Shotgun Championships; he has also placed in the top ten in two World Championships and two World Cups.[83] His teammate Derek Burnett won silver in the 2007 World Cup in Maribor and has placed in the top ten in three World Championships, two World Cup Finals and two European championships.[84] Another teammate, David Malone, won gold in the 2004 World Cup in Cairo, and has ranked in the top ten in two World Championships, one World Cup Final and five World Cups.[85] The team has also won several World Cup medals in both team and individual events. The clay pigeon high performance director has also been appointed head of the ISSF coaches' committee[86] and the head clay target instructor with the ISSF Training Academy.[87] Ian O'Sullivan also became the World Junior Champion in Olympic Trap in the 2014 World Championships.[88]
Ireland became world champions in Centrefire Gallery Rifle in the inaugural World Championships in 2013, in which the Irish team beat Great Britain and Germany. Gallery Rifle events are administered in Ireland by the NASRPC.[79]
Triathlon and adventure racing
The triathlon, as well as the duathlon, pentathlon, and decathlon, are gaining interest in Ireland.[citation needed] The Irish Triathlon calendar of events runs to 200 events annually.[89] The national body for the triathlon is Triathlon Ireland which organises competitions between various clubs throughout the country.[90]
The Modern Pentathlon Association of Ireland was set up in 2004.[91] Pentathlon and Decathlon are track and field events and organised by an athletic association, whereas Triathlon and Duathlon are organized by multi sport associations such as National Governing bodies for Triathlon and the ITU, International Triathlon Union.[citation needed]
Adventure racing also takes place in Ireland. The majority of adventure races in Ireland fall into what's often called multisport, with run, cycle and kayak stages in events like WAR (Wicklow Adventure Race) and Gaelforce West, which are won in under 4 hours. There are also a few longer international-style adventure races lasting 24 hours and 36 hours, events like Beast of Ballyhoura and Cooley Raid.[92]
Tug of war
Tug of war has been in Ireland for a long time and the creation of the Irish Tug of War Association in 1967 boosted the competition among clubs in Ireland and also enabled Ireland to compete in international events, such as the Tug of War International Federation (TWIF) World Championships.
Recreational diving started in Ireland in the early 1950s with the founding of the Belfast Branch of the British Sub Aqua Club.[93] In the early 1960s, diving clubs in the Republic of Ireland formed the Comhairle Fo-Thuinn (CFT) (English: Irish Underwater Council). This voluntary body regulates all aspects of diving for its members, is the national governing body recognised by the Irish Government and represents the Republic of Ireland at the Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (World Underwater Federation). The Northern Ireland Federation of Sub-Aqua Clubs which was formed in 1975 is the corresponding national governing body in Northern Ireland.
As of October 2013, underwater hockey is the only underwater sport being practised. This activity is limited to the Republic of Ireland where regional competition takes place in both Dublin and Cork. Irish national teams have played internationally with attendance at European championships.[94][95]
The Ski Club of Ireland is the national snowsports centre for Ireland, and consists of four outdoor dry slopes in Kilternan, Dublin. A team representing Ireland has competed at the Winter Olympic Games since 1992.
Baseball, which has some similarities to the Gaelic version of rounders, is an emerging sport in Ireland,[citation needed] The Irish National Baseball Team won the bronze medal at the 2004 European Championships in Germany and followed up that performance with a silver medal in the 2006 European Championships in Belgium. In 2018, the team won the C Pool in European Championships held in Ashbourne, County Meath to advance to the B Pool in 2019.[citation needed]
The governing body is Baseball Ireland, which oversees club play and operates an adult league established in 1997 with teams in Dublin, Greystones and Belfast. Irish baseball was the subject of an award-winning documentary The Emerald Diamond in 2006.
Basketball is overseen by Basketball Ireland.[97] This governing body organises the sport's main competitions such as the Super League. The main basketball arena in Ireland is the National Basketball Arena in Dublin. The sport receives small amounts of media attention, with a few games broadcast on television annually. Basketball is mainly driven by school, college and club support. Pat Burke is the only Irish born to play in the NBA, he played for Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns.
Lacrosse in Ireland is governed by Ireland Lacrosse, an association which is a member of World Lacrosse and the European Lacrosse Federation.[99] The Irish men's lacrosse team made headlines in 2020 when, after qualifying for the 2022 World Games, the team gave up their place at the competition to allow the Iroquois men's national lacrosse team to participate. The Iroquois team, despite representing the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in which the sport originated, were originally excluded because they did not represent a sovereign nation with an Olympic Committee.[100] The Irish national team refused to take their place at the competition, with the place being allocated to the Iroquois team.[101]
Softball in Ireland can be traced back as far as 1982, with the first organised competition, the Dublin Softball League, taking place in 1984. The Irish Softball Association is the governing body of softball in Ireland and is responsible for the running of tournaments, Leagues, development and international competition in both co-ed slowpitch and ladies fastpitch softball. The National Team (Co-Ed) has competed at European level since 1998, with the best results being Silver in 2002 and 2004.
Volleyball
Volleyball has men's, women's, schools' and beach-volleyball participants. The sport is governed by Volleyball Ireland (VLY).[102] The Northern Ireland Volleyball Association govern the sport in Northern Ireland.[103] Men, Women and Junior National Teams regularly compete in international competition including the European Small Nations Championship. The NI Men's National Team competed in the first round of the World Championships.[citation needed] Club volleyball is played in several men's and women's divisions (both north and south). Volleyball Ireland (VLY) also run school competitions throughout the school year: a first and second year competition, a cadette competition, a senior competition, and a general schools competition. Spikeball tournaments are also held around the country throughout the school year.[102]
Competitions and events
National
The various GAA discipline finals are the largest sporting events regularly held in Ireland, in both terms of attendance and media coverage. The biggest national sporting event in Ireland is the final of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, held annually in Croke Park, usually in September. It usually attracts a sell out crowd of 82,500 to the stadium. Many of the matches in the championship attract crowds of 50,000+, depending on who is playing.
Aside from the GAA, the biggest multi-sport event held in Ireland regularly is the Community Games. The games are organised every year from a local level, where hundreds of thousands of young people compete in different disciplines such as athletics, swimming, and cycling, in the first half of the year. Winners progress to county level, and then to the Community Games finals. The finals are held over two weekends in the summer where over 3,000 children sleep over at a campus-style facility.
International
On an international level, Ireland has had mixed fortunes, with some successes in the late 20th and early 21st century in rugby union, horse racing, show jumping, amateur boxing, and golf.
Twenty four Irish people have won Olympic medals as of 2012. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Ireland had one of its smallest contingents in its history at the games, with only 106 individuals participating. This was due to the strict policy followed by the Olympic Council of Ireland of only allowing A time athletes and swimmers to attend the games.[citation needed]
One of the biggest international events in Ireland is international soccer. The Republic's national team first qualified for a FIFA World Cup in 1990, reaching the quarter-finals of Italia '90. In rugby union, as of September 2019, Ireland's national team was ranked 1st in the world.[104] Ireland has produced major stars such as Keith Wood, Brian O'Driscoll and Johnny Sexton.[105] In golf, Ireland has produced several top golfers such as Pádraig Harrington.
The traditional Gaelic games of Gaelic football and hurling are played by Irish expats, with increasingly local involvement in communities around the world, however no nation has enough players to compete with Ireland. To compensate for this the GAA has entered into a partnership with the Australian Football League (Australian rules football) and plays a hybrid annual series called International rules football – this series has been going in various forms since 1967. Also the GAA plays an international hurling hybrid match with Scotland's national shinty team (although Ireland do not select players from the best hurling teams in Tier One of the All-Ireland championship for this game).
International soccer and rugby in the Republic of Ireland are played at the 52,000 capacity Aviva Stadium. Built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road, this all-seated stadium was opened in May 2010. Thomond Park, a rugby ground in Limerick, has been rebuilt into a modern 26,000-capacity stadium, though not all-seated.
Ireland has three Olympic-sized swimming pools – two of which are open to the public. The largest – located at the National Sports Campus – is the National Aquatic Centre. Ireland has several large horse and greyhound tracks such as Fairyhouse.
Plans to develop a Northern Ireland stadium at the site of the former Maze prison in County Antrim to cater for Gaelic games, rugby and soccer were scrapped in 2009 after opposition from unionists and soccer fans.[107]
Newspapers: All major newspapers dedicate space to sports coverage, particularly to soccer, Gaelic games, rugby union and equestrian events.
Television: Gaelic football, hurling and soccer receive most of the sports coverage on domestic channels. RTÉ Two and TG4 hold rights to broadcast Gaelic games in Ireland. Coverage of the League of Ireland is shared between RTÉ and other channels. TV3 and RTÉ Two both have rights to various European soccer competitions, such as the Champions League and the English Premier League. Satellite and cable subscribers have access to other foreign channels such as Sky Sports, Eurosport and Attheraces.
Magazines: There are relatively few Irish based magazines apart from GAA ones such as the Hogan Stand.
↑ "Women and sport: New thinking needed for more female involvement". The Irish Times. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2018. [Irish] Women are more likely to exercise to keep fit and healthy (56 per cent) than men (43 per cent). They just chose to devote their time to [..] individual pursuits [..] instead of organised team sports. Participation in team sports tends to fall off for women when they leave school
↑ Sports Capital Programme 2017 Review(PDF). dttas.ie (Report). Department of Transport, Tourism And Sport. April 2018. pp.26–27. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
↑ O'Sullivan, Patrick T. (Spring 1998). "Ireland & the Olympic Games". History Ireland. 6 (1). Dublin. Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
↑ Richard William Cox; Dave Russell; Wray Vamplew (2002). Encyclopedia of British Football. Routledge. p.67. ISBN978-0-7146-5249-8. Gaelic football's first rules were published in December 1884 at the second convention of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The codification of its rules was a response by Irish nationalists to the growth of 'English' football
↑ Farrelly, Hugh (15 September 2009). "The most progressive team in Ireland". Scrum.com. Retrieved 17 November 2009. [R]ugby's explosion in popularity means there is talent coming through in greater numbers that at any time in living memory . . . These are heady days for Irish rugby. The Republic of Ireland are pushing hard for qualification for the World Cup but could barely draw 10,000 to Thomond Park for a recent international with South Africa. A few days later, Munster had almost twice that for an early season Celtic League match.
↑ "Assessment of Economic Impact of Sport in Ireland"(PDF). Indecon International Economic Consultants. pp.10, 11, 13. Retrieved 1 August 2021. The ten most popular sports in 2008 are: swimming, personal exercise, soccer, golf [..] participation rates for the ten most popular sports are given in Figure 2.2
↑ "History of Athgarvan Pitch & Putt". athgarvanpandp.com. Retrieved 29 August 2018. the sport of Pitch and Putt originated in Ireland [..] Around the mid 1930s the game first came to be in the seaside resort of Fountainstown, Co Cork
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of players and much terminology. The same game played by women is called camogie, which shares a common Gaelic root.
Camogie is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities.
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.
Gaelic games are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the most popular of the sports, are both organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). Women's versions of hurling and football are also played: camogie, organised by the Camogie Association of Ireland, and ladies' Gaelic football, organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association. While women's versions are not organised by the GAA, they are closely associated with it but are still separate organisations.
Sport holds a central place in British culture, and the United Kingdom has played a key role in both the development and global spread of many sports. In the early stages of organized sport, the Home Nations were instrumental in establishing formal rules and forming some of the earliest governing bodies, national teams, and domestic league competitions.
All-Ireland refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire island, but also has related meanings in politics and religion.
Eric Miller is a former Irish rugby union and Gaelic football player. As a rugby player Miller played for, among others Old Wesley, Leicester Tigers, Ulster, Leinster, the Barbarians, Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. After retiring as a rugby player, Miller switched football codes and went on to play Gaelic football for the Dublin county team.
The European Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Gaelic Games Europe is one of the international units of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), and is responsible for organising Gaelic games in continental Europe. Gaelic Games Europe is also responsible for the European Gaelic football, hurling, camogie and ladies' Gaelic football teams which compete every three years at the GAA World Gaelic Games.
Sport plays a central role in Scottish culture. The temperate, oceanic climate has played a key part in the evolution of sport in Scotland, with all-weather sports like association football and golf dominating the national sporting consciousness. However, many other sports are played in the country, with popularity varying between sports and between regions.
Rugby union is a popular team sport on the island of Ireland, organised on an all-Ireland basis, including players and teams from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Its governing body, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), was founded in 1875, making it the third oldest rugby union in the world after the RFU (England) and the SRU (Scotland), which were both founded in 1871.
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 and hyrbid matches played between Irish and Australian teams. 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, Galway and Killarney. The game in Ireland is typically played in a modified 9-a-side footy format on rectangular fields.
Gaelic Games Canada (GGC), or the Canadian GAA (CGAA), is responsible for Gaelic games across Canada, overseeing approximately 20 clubs. It has the same status as one of the county boards of Ireland and is one of over thirty regional GAA executive boards throughout the world. The board is responsible for Gaelic football, hurling, camogie, rounders, gaelic handball, and ladies' Gaelic football teams in Canada.
Association football commonly referred to as football or soccer, is the team sport with the second highest level of participation in the Republic of Ireland.
Sport in England plays a prominent role in English society. Popular teams sports in England include association football, cricket, field hockey, rugby union, rugby league, and netball. Major individual sports include badminton, athletics, tennis, boxing, golf, cycling, motorsport, and horseracing. Cricket is regarded as the national summer sport. Football is generally considered to be the popular sport, followed by cricket, tennis and rugby. A number of modern sports were codified in England during the nineteenth century, among them cricket, rugby union, rugby league, football, field hockey, bandy, squash, chesstennis, and badminton. The game of baseball was first described in 18th century England.
Sport in Wales plays a prominent role in Welsh culture. Like the other countries of the United Kingdom, Wales enjoys independent representation in major world sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup and in the Rugby World Cup, but competes as part of Great Britain in some other competitions, including the Olympics.
Sport in Europe tends to be highly organized with many sports having professional leagues. The origins of many of the world's most popular sports today lie in the codification of many traditional games, especially in the United Kingdom. However, a paradoxical feature of European sport is the extent to which local, regional and national variations continue to exist, and even in some instances to predominate.
St Vincent's Secondary School, or St Vincent's CBS, is an independent Catholic Voluntary Secondary School in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland. It operates as a registered charity under the trusteeship of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust. As of 2017, St Vincent's CBS secondary school had an enrollment of 375 boys.
Sport in Northern Ireland plays an important role in the lives of many Northern Irish people. Most sports are organised on an all-Ireland basis, for example rugby union, Gaelic games, basketball, rugby league, hockey, and cricket, whereas others, like association football and netball are organised on a separate basis for Northern Ireland.
Setanta College is a distance learning college, with a focus on sports courses. It offers internationally accredited qualifications, ranging from Higher Certificate to Master's degree level. The college is primarily web-based but also offers campus-based courses at its Limerick City campus. Other teaching locations include London, UK, Karnataka, India, and Pennsylvania and Florida in the United States.
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