Ireland+National+Sport

= National sports in Ireland  =

The end of the 19th century is marked in the Irish history as a period of growing national conscience, which soon became Irish independence. At the time, everything Irish was once again in the first place: language, culture and sports (Gaelic revival). The **Gaelic Athletic Association ** was set up in 1884 with the goal of reviving the pride of the Irish tradition and cultural values. The GAA nourishes these values today and unites national amateur sports like hurling, Gaelic football, handball and rounders. These games are the most popular sports in Ireland with the greatest number of spectators and a huge support of local communities. Gaelic Games also include Ladies Gaelic Football and //Camogie //.

__Gaelic football__
This sport is commonly known as football, Gaelic or //Gah //, and is played mainly in Ireland. The game supposedly comes form the game of //Caid //, an ancient Irish football that originates from the medieval times. The game is aggressive and fast, with players in close contact. It resembles rugby in many ways. The game consists of two teams, with 15 players each, whose aim is to get the ball through the goal. The goal looks like a rugby goal - the H-shaped goal is made out of two vertical posts, joined with one horizontal bar with the goalkeeper under. The pointing system is organized in a way that a goal below the crossbar worths 3 points and a goal over the bar gets one point to the team that scored. While leading the ball, players can kick or hand-pass the round ball that looks like a soccer ball, only heavier. Players are also allowed to carry the ball through the field and drop it onto their toes and then kick it upward into the hands (soloing). The ball is made of animal skin with horizontal stitching and when kicked with the hands this sport resembles volleyball, because one strikes the ball with the side of the closed fist. Everybody can enjoy playing this sport, from the minors to the pensioners. The play lasts for one hour, two halftimes of 30 minutes each, except for the children under 12 years who play for 40 minutes. The grass pitch is rectangularly shaped with 130-145 m length and 80-90 m width. Again, for under 12-year-olds, the field is smaller. This game is played on the county level and the highest point of this competition is the All-Ireland final, taking place at Croke Park, Dublin, in September.

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= Ireland national rugby union team =

The **Ireland national rugby union team** represents the island of [|Ireland] (both [|Republic of Ireland] and [|Northern Ireland] ) in [|rugby union]. The team competes annually in the [|Six Nations Championship] (which they have won eleven times outright and shared eight times) and every four years in the [|Rugby World Cup], where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions (1999 and 2007). Ireland is also one of the four unions that make up the [|British and Irish Lions] – players eligible to play for Ireland are also eligible for the Lions. Eight former Ireland players have earned induction into the [|International Rugby Hall of Fame], with five of them also having earned induction into the [|IRB Hall of Fame]. Outside centre [|Brian O'Driscoll], the current captain and Ireland's current all-time leader in both tries and appearances, is considered one of the best rugby players in the world and led Ireland to only their second Grand Slam in March 2009. He was also captain of the [|Lions] on their [|2005 tour of New Zealand], although his on-field captaincy was cut short by a controversial injury in the Lions' first Test. O'Driscoll was succeeded as Lions captain for their [|2009 tour of South Africa] by his current teammate, lock [|Paul O'Connell]. [|Keith Wood], O'Driscoll's predecessor as Ireland captain before retiring in 2003, was the inaugural [|IRB International Player of the Year] in 2001. Ireland's highest ever position in the [|IRB World Rankings] is third, which they reached in 2003 and 2006.

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