GAA

While in Ireland our aunt and uncle took us to a Gaelic Football match at Croke Park stadium (pronounced crow) in Dublin. GAA (stands for Gaelic Athletic Association) is a lot like Australian Rules, or a cross between rugby and football. We took the Dart (Train) into Dublin from Ballybrack and walked to Croke Park from the station. As we neared the stadium the crowds got thicker and the street vendors started appearing, selling scarves or hats and flags for Dublin and Wexford (the teams that were playing that day). When we got into the stadium it was already starting to rain so we all bought huge rain ponchos before we went to sit down. Our seats were good; they were close to the pitch and we could see everything.

My sister and I didn’t really know much about how the game first and my aunt had to explain a lot to us but here is the game explained by the pros at the GAA website:

“The ball used in Gaelic Football is round, slightly smaller than a soccer ball. It can be carried in the hand for a distance of four steps and can be kicked or "hand-passed", a striking motion with the hand or fist. After every four steps the ball must be either bounced or "solo-ed", an action of dropping the ball onto the foot and kicking it back into the hand. You may not bounce the ball twice in a row. To score, you put the ball over the crossbar by foot or hand / fist for one point or under the crossbar and into the net by foot or the hand / fist in certain circumstances for a goal, the latter being the equivalent of three points.”

This might not make sense unless you actually watch the game, it sounds sort of complex. It is a really fun game to watch, there is something going on the entire time, and there are no breaks except halftime, unlike American football. The score was back and forth at the beginning but soon Dublin started to fall behind, we were disappointed because they were our team (my family lives in Ballybrack in county Dublin).

In Croke Park there is a certain section of the seating called ‘Hill 16’. Only Dublin fans sit there (sometimes they even chant "Hill 16 is Dublin only") and they yell louder than anyone, when Dublin is losing they usually get a bit rowdy, especially since most of them did some drinking at the pubs before coming in. The Dublin Fans are often called ‘The Dubs’ and they are often considered the best supporters in the country. They sing ‘Come on you Boys in Blue’ at matches because Dublin wears blue jerseys.

The players (who I doubt were drinking beforehand) also get pretty… unrestrained. It didn’t happen while we were there but my aunt said that usually if Dublin is losing there is a fight on the pitch. Someone did get removed from the field after they punched another player in the head and there was a lot of fouling going on but there was no full out brawls. (Refs are a lot more lenient with fouling in this game than in soccer, it’s more similar to rugby in that respect)

By halftime our team (Dublin, or Ath Cliath in Gaelic) was losing by quite a bit, but someone must have given quite a pep talk at the break because when they came back they demolished Wexford (Loch Garman in Gaelic), 21-16 with 2 goals over the bars after an extra 25 minute overtime. It was a great game and a real once in a lifetime experience for me (though I hope to go to another game). Yet again, hope you feel a bit more enlightened on Irish culture and the GAA.