Croke Park, Dublin. Home of the Gaelic Athletic Association.
Closing out 2023 I thought I’d wrap up the year with my own personal favourite moments of 2023 with a three part blog on my top 3 moments of 2023. The short list pretty much picked itself, it never took long for me to decide to celebrate 2 footballing triumphs and a trip to an iconic stadium in Dublin.
So, I'll finish up in Irelands Big Smoke back in the last weekend of August 2023. The Irish capital was jumping. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were centre stage for the homecoming of all homecomings and Derry City were in town for their premier league clash against Bohemians at Dalymount Park. Me? I was in Dublin with my son and my brother hoping to enjoy the sporting fayre and of course a few Guinness.
For all the visits I’ve made to Dublin over the last 25 years, a trip to Croke Park has always passed me by. So, this year I made sure it was top of the list of things to do as soon as we had dumped the bags at out hotel.
We took the Luas from our hotel up to O'Connell street and walked the rest of the way to the stadium, momentarily catching glimpses of the sporting cathedral through Dublin’s urban landscape. We crossed the Royal Canal over the Bloody Sunday Bridge and the sheer size of the stadium comes into focus. We made our way around The Hogan stand, behind Hill 16 and round to the front entrance.
With its 82000 + capacity Cooke Park is the 4th biggest stadium in Europe, but it is much more than that. It is the centrepiece of the Gaelic Athletic Association, the heartbeat of a movement started over 135 years ago and evolving over the years to promote and encourage involvement in traditional irish sports, language, dancing and music.
Arriving way too early for our tour, we grabbed a bite to eat in the Museum cafe before taking a stroll through the museum. The items, trophies, flags and pennants on display are a real treasure trove of sporting history spanning the 135 years of the GAA, every club is represented and at every discipline. The interactive display items give you a chance to test your skills with a Hurley, Sliothar and Gaelic Football. It's here you really appreciate the skill level required to be able to play Football or Hurling.
The museum has a dedicated exhibition to Bloody Sunday, retelling the story of the Tipperary versus Dublin challenge match at Croke Park on the 21st November 1920 when Royal Irish Constabulary shot indiscriminately into the crowd there to watch the match killing 13 spectators and Tipperary player, Michael Hogan.
A visit to Croke Park is a must when you are in Dublin. The history of the GAA is intrinsically linked to rebirth of Irish culture and language, the war for independence as well as the hopes and dreams of players of over 2200 GAA clubs across the 32 counties in Ireland and overseas.
