Arcadia Ireland

On the first weekend in October, the All Ireland Senior Football Final replay took place at the GAA Headquarters Croke Park, Dublin which has a capacity of 82,300. Two amateur teams, Dublin and Mayo, fought it out for the coveted All-Ireland trophy in a replay following a rare draw two weeks ago. Every year players from 32 counties across Ireland, plus teams of emigrants in London and New York, compete for the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) Sam McGuire Cup. Arcadia students who Study in Ireland have the opportunity to try their hand at Gaelic football, hurling and handball during orientation when they take part in the ‘Gaelic Games Experience’.

GAA is a huge part of many Irish people’s lives. It's about local pride, passion for the sport and people representing their parishes, communities, clubs and the streets where they grew up. Gaelic football in Ireland is unique. Every weekend Club matches are played in every town and village of Ireland. The very biggest matches regularly attract attendances of over 40,000 per game. Many players are dual players, playing both football and hurling, meaning they dedicate countless evenings and weekends, throughout the year, to training and matches often travelling around the country and sacrificing time with family and friends. They do this for the love of the game, and not for a single penny.

Dublin emerged from the battle victorious with just a single point in it, giving them a second successive All-Ireland triumph. The game was on a knife-edge until the last minute. Mayo, a county on the western seaboard, have not lifted the trophy since 1951. It was the first replay in 16 years and was worth more than three million euros to the GAA. In the first game, Mayo snatched a draw deep in additional time, but many analysts believed they deserved to have won, prompting much discussion of 'the curse' that supposedly hangs over the county. The story goes that the last time Mayo won the trophy in 1951 they failed to pay their respects while passing a funeral as they went through the county on a victorious homecoming journey. As a result, a priest apparently warned that Mayo would never win another All-Ireland until all of them had died. Two of that team are still alive today.

I was lucky to be one of the 82,300 supporters in Croke Park last Saturday. My family are from Mayo so as you can imagine we were devastated at how close Mayo came to finally lifting Sam after 65 years. There were many tears shed by young and old in the stadium at the final whistle. On Sunday, I continued my GAA weekend and attended a County Senior Hurling Final in Newbridge, County Kildare. Two clubs in Kildare were battling for the Tony Carew Cup and although a much more modest affair with maybe 1,000 supporters in attendance, it still had all the passion, pride and pace of the All Ireland Football final the day before. The strong family ties to the game were very evident in the Celbridge team as they had three families with at least two sons on the team. As the GAA slogan says; nothing beats being there.