IT'S St Patrick's Day and I wonder how many
pints of Guiness will be consumed throughout the day today in the various Gaelic Football clubs of Ireland?
The Irish have their own game of
football- Gaelic Football-which like soccer, has its roots in the Middle Ages. The earliest reference appears to be in 1308 when a game
was played at the Football Field in Newcastle, County Dublin and
later the Statute of Galway in 1527 allowed football to be played (it
was previously often banned by the law regarding it as a distraction from other
skills like archery! and the small matter of people dying midst the brawl!) By the 17th Century the gentry took
over the game and made it popular, which is parallel to the influence
of the Public Schools, Universities and the Military on “football”
in England. Once the posh had hold of it, you knew it was going to be a success.
In the early 19th Century
there were various forms of game referred to as “caid” which were
popular in Kerry and on the Dingle Peninsular. This mass contest or
field game was won by putting the ball through arch-like goals formed
by bent boughs of two trees, with a pitch running cross country. This
was often played after Mass on a Sunday, between two neighbouring
villages. There were few rules!
As rugby and soccer grew in importance
in the 1860s, the “field game” lost its popularity and gradually
had to be codified to help its popularity.
Limerick proved to be the bastion of
the native game and the Commercials Club funded by the workers of
Cannock's Drapery Store adopted a first set of rules.
Eventually the various forms of the
game were unified in 1887 as the Gaelic Athletic Association tried to
reject foreign sports,especially English ones. Cricket for example
was banned!
Ladies football was played in the 1970s
and a contest between Gaelic Teams and Aussie Rules teams is played,
with agreed adjustments to the rules, although they are very much the
same in principle.
It really is a "full on" game and hurling is worth watching also.
It really is a "full on" game and hurling is worth watching also.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEAbWrdB9XU
It really is a stunning game, full of energy and non stop entertainment. Hurling isn't a bad watch either!
It really is a stunning game, full of energy and non stop entertainment. Hurling isn't a bad watch either!
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