Irish sports daily wiki1/12/2024 ![]() ![]() This means that Dublin has scored 3 goals (worth a total of 9 points) and 5 points for hitting the ball over the bar. So you will see scores in Irish football and hurling like this: Dublin 3-5 Kerry 2-9. Putting the ball in the net is a goal which has a value of 3 points. In both the traditional Irish sports of football and hurling, the goals are in an H-shape and hitting the ball over the (H) bar is worth a point. You can find footage of the actual match and more commentary on YouTube but be ready for a few expletives! To get a taste for it, below is part of ‘a slightly biased’, somewhat crude but hilarious commentary of the now famous Eddie Moroney, taken from a county final. Even the best county players will play for their parish club and the passion, craic (fun) and begrudgery which is to be witnessed at this level can be incredible. While Gaelic football reaches its highest level at the inter-county games, some of the greatest rivalries are at parish or club level. A particular skill which is appreciated greatly is that ability to field a ball, to jump high and snatch a ball from the air. It’s also fair to use one hand to knock the ball out of an opponent’s hand. The game is physical with shouldering someone off the ball a legitimate and valued skill. The ball is a round leather ball, a little smaller than a soccer ball. There is a break of 15 minutes at half-time. The game lasts 60 mins at most levels and 70 mins at the highest inter-county level. While players can’t run with the ball in their hands more than three steps, they can move the ball up the field by ‘soloing’, basically the skill of running and repeatedly kicking the ball into the hands and dropping to the feet again. The ball is kicked, caught, hand-passed and punched. The funny thing about Irish football is that it is as much if not more about using your hands as your feet. It’s a game of 15 men against 15 on a grass pitch, a good 20 metres (about 20 yards) longer and about 10 metres (10 yards) wider than a soccer pitch. ![]() In Ireland Gaelic football is most commonly called ‘Gaelic’ or just ‘football’ or ‘gah’ (after the GAA, the Gaelic Athletic Association) and occasionally ‘Caid’ particularly in the south-west of the country. Other traditional Irish sports in Ireland are horse-racing, fishing, handball and of course golf. Soccer in Ireland is played generally to a semi-professional level while rugby has become professional in recent years. Soccer and rugby are also very popular sports. Huge numbers of women also play both sports (the female version of hurling is called camogie). The games are organized by the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association), without a doubt the strongest community based organization on the island of Ireland. Even more incredible is to see how many times a year, Croke Park, the national stadium attracts a crowd in excess of 60,000 to see either of the two sports. This figure is incredible when you consider that both sports have amateur status. When Irish people go to a sport event, one out of every two are attending a Gaelic football or hurling match. Traditional Irish sports are dominated by Gaelic football and hurling. ![]()
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