Tuesday 26 November 2013

Football(ish) Snapshots – Croke Park

It’s been a while since I’ve had time to go to a game never mind write up about it! Mainly due to exams that have thankfully finished for the current time. Straight after this exam batch, I was lucky enough to head off to Dublin for a bit of R&R and while the football season has finished and I missed the chance for some Ireland v New Zealand tickets, I still got a chance to have a wander round Croke Park.

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Opened in 1913 as a home for the GAA, Croke Park is now the principal stadium and HQ of the Gaelic Athletic Association. After a recent refurb works, it is now the 4th largest stadium in Europe (behind Camp Nou, Wembley and Santiago Bernabéu) and the largest that isn’t principally for football.

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Walking distance from the centre of Dublin, the ground is brilliantly situated inbetween houses, making this a proper old school ground rather than the plastic bowls situated in a retail park. It also houses a lot of history as you can imagine with the amount of GAA finals to be played there and sadly, it was a major part of Bloody Sunday in 1920 during the Irish Civil War.

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Today, the stadium looks a fantastic venue and gives me yet another reason to return to Dublin to try and catch a GAA game at the venue. I’d also recommend the GAA Museum inside Croke Park which has a brilliant insight into sports that I knew very little about before the visit. I’ll leave you with a few select pics from Páirc an Chrócaigh.

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Photos from Croke Park

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