| When you are in Dublin, especially over the summer | | | | in Irish tradition. |
| months, you should make an effort to see a game | | | | Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) |
| of Gaelic football or Hurling, two uniquely Irish sports | | | | While the games boast ancient roots, their modern |
| which have passionate support throughout the | | | | history is inseparably linked with the revival of Irish |
| country. The summer period is when the annual | | | | culture and nationalism that occurred in the late 19th |
| championships in both sports take place, and each | | | | century. |
| county fields a team. The championships culminate in | | | | In 1884, with Ireland under the rule of the British |
| September and tickets are like a gold dust, but you | | | | Crown, a group of Irish nationalists met to establish |
| might find another event earlier in the summer that | | | | an organization for Irish athletes, the Gaelic Athletic |
| isn't sold out. The biggest stadium in Ireland - for any | | | | Association (GAA). The initial plan was to resurrect |
| sport - is Croke Park, and that's where the | | | | the ancient Tailteann Games and establish an |
| highest-profile events take place. | | | | independent |
| Gaelic football | | | | Irish organisation for promoting athletics, but hurling |
| Gaelic football became popular as early as the 16th | | | | and gaelic football eventually predominated. |
| century, when teams might have consisted of all the | | | | It is still the governing body of hurling and Gaelic |
| fit men of a town or parish. In those earliest days, | | | | football (as well as of ladies football and carmogie, a |
| the rather unorganized game would begin between | | | | hurling-like sport for women). GAA has always |
| the two towns and end when one side had managed | | | | promoted more than just sport. The Gaelic Athletic |
| to force the ball across a line into the other's | | | | Association was a cultural thing and it was created as |
| territory. | | | | a direct response to the way in which Irish culture |
| The modern game plays like a mix of soccer and | | | | was being eliminated. Along with the Gaelic League |
| rugby. Teams of 15 players kick or hand pass a ball | | | | and the Irish Literary Revival, it provided a |
| around a grass pitch towards each others goals to | | | | mechanism for the creation of a sense of Irish |
| either score a point over the bar or goal. The ball | | | | identity. |
| used in Gaelic football is round, slightly smaller than a | | | | Gaelic games in politics |
| soccer ball. The action is fast and furious, and play is | | | | In its early years, the Gaelic games themselves took |
| rough. Protective equipment is nonexistent. | | | | on political significance in the troubled Ireland of the |
| Hurling | | | | time. |
| Hurling is similar to lacrosse or hockey. It's played on | | | | The athletic association developed a strong rural |
| a large pitch with a curved wooden stick (or "hurley") | | | | network across Ireland, and many GAA members |
| and a 6.5 cm (2.5 inches) leather ball (or "sliothar"). It | | | | were involved in events connected with the 1916 |
| can be described as one of the fastest and most | | | | Easter Rising. |
| skilful field games in the world and it's not for the | | | | By 1918 the organization was banned by the British |
| faint of heart. Bodies bang, the ball is as hard as a | | | | government, but the games were still played as an |
| baseball, and the sticks are made of solid ash. | | | | act of Irish defiance. The game was touched directly |
| While Gaelic football is an old sport, hurling is ancient. | | | | (was itself influenced) by the conflict. |
| Irish mythology is replete with tales of heroes, such | | | | Bloody Sunday |
| as the legendary warrior Cú Chulainn, who were | | | | On 21 November 1920 the Irish Republican Army |
| expert hurlers. Such myths point to a hurling history | | | | (IRA) assassinated 14 British agents and their |
| some 2,000 years old and the sport's prominent place | | | | informants in Dublin. |