Student Bloggers

Croke Park is the 3rd largest stadium in Europe, and host to a great cultural affair: Gaelic Football. A few of us brave souls ventured out to watch a game of hurling and Gaelic football on Saturday the 11th in the tremendous wind and rain. We had toured the stadium earlier in January, and wanted to come back for a real game. As is typical, it’s always an adventure to take the bus when you don’t know which stop is the right one. We luckily made it with 10 minutes to spare, but had to run around to find tickets, and ended up buying them at a convenience store near the stadium. Once we got into the stadium, we found seats somewhat shielded from the rain, but still fell victim to awful winds. The hurling match was first, and lasted for a little over an hour. We had to go back inside and drink some coffee to warm up, because I couldn’t feel my toes or fingers! The Gaelic football match was next, and the stands filled up much more, which turned out to be very exciting. Dublin was losing 7-10 against Tír Eoghain and came back to tie it up by the end. Interestingly, there is no overtime for ties, which surprised me, because most sports I’m familiar with always break a tie with OT. We were thankful in the end for the lack of overtime, because it meant we could hurry back to Rathmines for a drink inside a warm building.

Our two Irish friends who accompanied us made sure we knew all the rules (we’re totally professionals, since Arcadia took us to one class on Gaelic sports) and told us about their experiences with football. One of them had played at Croke Park twice, which he said was an amazing yet terrifying experience to represent your club in that stadium. None of the players or teams are paid, which makes their devotion to the sport so wonderful. Unlike professional athletes in the states, these players have other jobs on top of playing for their club. People take huge pride in their club, training after work, teaching the younger members once they stop playing at matches, and giving back as much as possible. The clubs are all based on where you live, so the players grew up and trained together for years, making their bonds to each other strong. They consider it an honor to be able to represent their club in the game, so they take it very seriously and are respectful to all the other teams as well (although a few shoves here and there during the game may happen – just for the competition of it all). Knowing all that background made watching the game even more rewarding, because we knew how central it is to most Irish people. People of all ages came to support Dublin, as they do every time they play. During our tour, we found out that the extra money Croke Park makes goes right back into the clubs: for new jerseys, equipment, or facilities, since they want to continue to support the Gaelic sports in any way possible. The positivity in this system made for a wonderful evening, where I felt so immersed in Ireland’s culture. I hope I get to make another fun night at Croke Park sometime soon!