Gaelic Football - Catholicism's favorite pastime

Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick!

Finding out about the beautiful, brutal and authentically Catholic sport of Gaelic Football really couldn’t have come at a better time. Well I suppose I could have found out about this Irish sport on St. Patrick’s Feast Day, but then I wouldn’t have been able to pass this valuable cultural knowledge along until after. I would first like to wish all of you a very happy St. Patrick’s Day. Whether you are reading this now or later, pour yourself a pint and pull up a bucket.

A Backstory

I was informed of Gaelic Football by a coworker of mine and want to extend a warm thank you to Fainche who also happens to be from the land of a thousand welcomes. Fun fact - the Irish have an expression;

“cead mílle fáilte”

Which means “a hundred thousand welcomes” in Gaelic. Perhaps the popular slogan is selling the country short. Some of Fainche’s first words about Gaelic football was that it was most certainly tougher than American football and even rugby. I have to admit I was rather skeptical of this claim and chose to research further. Below, I share my findings.

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The GAA

(An excerpt from the website)

The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is Ireland’s largest sporting organisation. It is celebrated as one of the great amateur sporting associations in the world.

The GAA is part of the Irish consciousness and plays an influential role in Irish society that extends far beyond the basic aim of promoting Gaelic games.

It was founded on November 1 1884 at a meeting in Thurles, Co. Tipperary, by a group of spirited Irishmen who had the foresight to realise the importance of establishing a national organisation to make athletics more accessible to the masses and to revive and nurture traditional,indigenous sports and pastimes. At that time, it was largely only the gentry and aristocracy who were allowed to meaningfully participate in athletics.

Until then all that was Irish was being steadily eroded by emigration, intense poverty and outside influences. Within six months of that famous first meeting, GAA clubs began to spring up all over Ireland and people began to play the games of Hurling and Gaelic Football and take part in Athletic events with pride.

The Association today promotes Gaelic games such as Hurling, Football, Handball and Rounders and works with sister organisations to promote Ladies Football and Camogie. The Association also promotes Irish music, song and dance and the Irish language as an integral part of its objectives. The GAA has remained an amateur Association since its founding. Players, even at the highest level, do not receive payment for playing and the volunteer ethos remains one of the most important aspects of the GAA.

The organisation is based on the traditional parishes and counties of Ireland. As a community-based organisation, it is often stated that it is difficult to determine where the community ends and the GAA club starts as they generally overlap and are intertwined. The GAA has over 2,200 clubs in all 32 counties of Ireland.

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The GAA has long been associated with the Catholic Church, one of the reasons it is not liked by Protestants. Croke Park is named after Archbishop Thomas Croke. The GAA was an organisation born to promote Irish culture, including sports the Irish language, music and other things, in a time when some of things were suppressed. So Catholicism is part of the GAA.

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The Game of Gaelic Football

Gaelic football (Irish: Peil Ghaelach; short name Peil or Caid), commonly referred to as football or Gaelic, is an Irish team sport.

A rough-and tumble form of Gaelic football was common throughout the middle ages, similar versions of which abounded throughout Europe and eventually became the forebears of both soccer and rugby. Though references to Irish Football are practically non-existent before the 1600s the earliest records of a recognized precursor to modern Gaelic football date from a game in County Meath, Ireland in 1670.

Gaelic Football is the most popular of the Gaelic games and is played on a rectangular grass pitch with H-shaped goals at each end. The game is high octane, full of speed, precision, accuracy and intensity.

Croke Park - Ireland

It is played with a round ball and both hands and feet are used to control and pass the ball. There are 15 players on each team, with only 1 referee.

The primary objective is to score by driving the ball through or over the goals. If the ball is sent over the bar of the goals, this equates to One Point. If it goes under the bar, into the goalmouth, this equates to Three Points.

The team with the highest score at the end of the match wins.

The female version of the game is known as Ladies’ Gaelic football and is very similar to the men’s game, with just a few minor rule changes. The Ladies Gaelic Football Association was founded in 1974. Since then, Ladies Gaelic Football claims to be the fastest growing team sport in Europe. In 2018, the All-Ireland Ladies Football Final held in Croke Park was the largest female attended sporting event in the world for that year, with 50,141 people in attendance. In 2019, this figure rose to 56,114 people in attendance.

Let’s take a look at the game in action;

After setting my eyes on Gaelic Football for the first time, it immediately seems to be a mashup of all of the best aspects of Soccer, Rugby, American Football and Basketball. I can see why the sport is growing in popularity, it’s got it all - brute force and finesse. A one stop shop, if you will. Whatever type of sports fan you are, Gaelic Football is sure to entertain.

A while back, I wrote a post arguing that baseball was the most Catholic sport and thought I made a pretty compelling argument;

No Place Like Home

But hey, ignorance is bliss! With the knowledge that I now have, that entire article is basically blown to smithereens, but still worth the read, I think.

Did you know….there is actually a league here in the United States? It’s called the USGAA. How the sport has evaded many Catholics in this country is beyond me, but I think that needs to change. In fact, I now consider it a duty to impart the knowledge and fandom of the most Catholic sport on the planet. Now is the time to choose your favorite team!

Here is a cool little read of the Top 10 Most Successful GAA Gaelic Football County Squads

Keeping with the principle of subsidiarity, I challenge you to find a local Gaelic Football Club. Drop it in the comments!

On this glorious Feast Day of St. Patrick, I hope you enjoyed learning about the enigmatic Irish sport of Gaelic Football as much as I have. To close, how about a fitting prayer?

As I arise today,
may the strength of God pilot me,
the power of God uphold me,
the wisdom of God guide me.
May the eye of God look before me,
the ear of God hear me,
the word of God speak for me.
May the hand of God protect me,
the way of God lie before me,
the shield of God defend me,
the host of God save me.
May Christ shield me today.
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit,
Christ when I stand,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Amen

St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, pray for us!

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam,

Nick

Catholic Manhood