THERE ONCE WAS A FOOTBALLER FROM LIMERICK.....

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 17^th 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 19^th 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.

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!