The GAA organises competitive games in both codes and at all levels from youth all the way up to adult senior.
The women's version of these games, ladies' Gaelic football and camogie, are organised by the independent but closely-linked Ladies' Gaelic Football Association and the Camogie Association of Ireland respectively.
The highest level of competitions in the GAA are the inter-county All-Ireland Championships where the thirty-two counties of Ireland compete to win the Provincial championships, All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Before 1892, the winning club in each county championship contested the All-Ireland championship representing their county. In 1892, Congress granted permission for the winning club in each county championship to use players from other clubs in the county. The Inter County scene of today was thus created.
In 1918 the GAA was banned by the British government, as it was very closely associated with the nationalist cause, but Gaelic games were still played. In 1922 it gave up the task of promoting athletics to the National Athletic and Cycling Association.
In 1984 the GAA celebrated its hundredth year in existence. This anniversary was celebrated with numerous events throughout the island. The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final was played in Semple Stadium in Thurles to honour the town in which the GAA was founded.
The GAA is a democratic association consisting of various boards, councils, and committees organised in a structured hierarchy, and the basic unit of the association is the club. Its world headquarters are at Croke Park, Dublin.
Lines are marked at distances of 13m, 20m and 45m from each end-line. Shorter pitches and smaller goals
are used by youth teams.
Side-to-side
shouldering is allowed although body-checking or shoulder-charging is
illegal. As of 2010 all players must wear a helmet, and may wear other
protection such as shin-guards and/or a special kind of glove called an
ashguard.
Hurling is a team sport of ancient Gaelic origin, and
played with sticks called hurleys (in Irish, camán), and a ball called a
sliotar. The game is considered to be the world's fastest field team sport in terms
of game play. There is a similar game for
women called camogie (camógaíocht). It also shares a common Gaelic root
with the sport of shinty, which is played predominantly in Scotland.
The object of the game is for a team, comprising of 15 players, or 'hurlers'
to hit the ball between the opponents' goalposts either over the
crossbar for one point, or under the crossbar into a net guarded by a
goalkeeper for one goal, which is equivalent to three points.
The
hurley is generally 79–100 cm (26–40 inches) in length. The
goalkeeper's hurley usually has a bas (the flattened, curved end) twice
the size of other players' hurleys, to provide some advantage against the
fast moving ball. The sliotar is leather, covering a cork centre. It is
between 23 and 25 cm in circumference, and weighs 110 to 120
grams.
The sliotar can be caught in the hand and carried
for not more than four steps, struck in the air, or struck on the ground
with the hurley. It can be kicked or slapped with an open hand (the
hand pass) for short-range passing. A player who wants to carry the ball
for more than three steps has to bounce or balance the sliotar on the
end of the stick and the ball can only be handled twice while in his
possession.
A good strike with a hurley can propel the ball up to and over 150 km/h (93 mph) in speed, and 110 metres (361 ft) in distance.
Gaelic Football (Peil Ghaelach, or Caid)
The primary object is to score by kicking or striking the ball with the hand and getting it through the opponent's goal. Players advance the ball up the field with a combination of carrying, soloing (dropping and then toe-kicking the ball upward into the hands), kicking, and hand-passing to their team-mates.
A hand pass is not a punch but rather a strike of the ball with the side of the closed fist, using the knuckle of the thumb.
The majority of adult football and all minor and under 21 matches last for 60 minutes, divided into two halves of 30 minutes, with the exception of senior inter-county games which last for 70 minutes (two halves of 35 minutes). Draws are decided by replays or by playing 20 minutes of extra time (two halves of 10 minutes). The under 12s have a half of 20 or 25 minutes. Half time lasts for about 15 minutes.
The game is played with a round leather football made of 18 stitched leather panels, similar in appearance to a traditional volleyball, with a circumference of 69-74cm (27-29') and weighing between 370-425g (13-15 oz) when dry.
The game draws significantly more spectators than any other sport in Ireland, some 34% of total attendances, with hurling drawing 23%. It has strict rules on player amateurism and the pinnacle of the sport is the inter-county All-Ireland Football Final. The game is believed to have descended from ancient Irish football known as caid, which dates back to medieval times, although the modern rules were not set down until 1886.
Gaelic football is also played in countries outside of Ireland, often, although not solely,played by members of the Irish diaspora. It is increasing in popularity internationally. Teams from both London and New York compete in the annual All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the highest level of the game.
International rules football is a hybrid of Gaelic football and Australian rules football and is most prominently used for international representative matches between teams representing Ireland and Australia.
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is an amateur Irish and
international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on
promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of
hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders. The GAA also
promotes Irish music and dance, and the Irish language.
