History of Gaelic Football
History of Gaelic Football
Gaelic Football has been a vital part of the Irish culture for many generations. It is a sport that brings together people in such a way that soccer does in Brazil, baseball in the U.S. and hockey in Canada. The history of Gaelic Football is very rich and passionate and even today is still an excellent display of national pride.
The origins of the modern sport of Gaelic Football derive from the Irish sport of Hurling. Hurling has been a sport that has been played for over 4000 years ever since the first feast of Lunagsha in the Tailteann games (Orjan, 2006). The first known date for a Gaelic Football game was in 1670 in County Meath Ireland and the teams were 6-a-side (Orjan, 2006). They used many of the same rules of Hurling but used a larger, softer ball and no hurls. Every four steps, instead of bouncing the ball off their hurley, they would either bounce the ball or drop it to their foot and kick it back up again. The sport can be best described as a mixture of soccer and rugby. Games started to be played between counties in the early 18th century (Biege, 2007).
The sport, in a completely different form, was played as far back as the 14th century and it was a very violent game. The game was played with many balls made of horsehide and involved hundreds of players and was over a great distance (Orjan 2006). The sport involved many stops for wrestling and fist fighting. The Irish some what of the same ideals as the romans that Trd Temertzoglou and Paul Challen quoted: “a sound minde in a sound body” (Exercise science, 2003, pg. 295, ¶ 6) as they considered the game just as much an important social event as it was a sporting event and the would hold a large celebration after each match (Orjan, 2006). This sport was only well documented in County Kerry and was called Caid (Coughlan, 2001). In the modern sport of Gaelic Football, up until about 150 years ago, violence was a large part of the game (Couhlan, 2001).
Gaelic Football has been a vital part of the Irish culture for many generations. It is a sport that brings together people in such a way that soccer does in Brazil, baseball in the U.S. and hockey in Canada. The history of Gaelic Football is very rich and passionate and even today is still an excellent display of national pride.
The origins of the modern sport of Gaelic Football derive from the Irish sport of Hurling. Hurling has been a sport that has been played for over 4000 years ever since the first feast of Lunagsha in the Tailteann games (Orjan, 2006). The first known date for a Gaelic Football game was in 1670 in County Meath Ireland and the teams were 6-a-side (Orjan, 2006). They used many of the same rules of Hurling but used a larger, softer ball and no hurls. Every four steps, instead of bouncing the ball off their hurley, they would either bounce the ball or drop it to their foot and kick it back up again. The sport can be best described as a mixture of soccer and rugby. Games started to be played between counties in the early 18th century (Biege, 2007).
The sport, in a completely different form, was played as far back as the 14th century and it was a very violent game. The game was played with many balls made of horsehide and involved hundreds of players and was over a great distance (Orjan 2006). The sport involved many stops for wrestling and fist fighting. The Irish some what of the same ideals as the romans that Trd Temertzoglou and Paul Challen quoted: “a sound minde in a sound body” (Exercise science, 2003, pg. 295, ¶ 6) as they considered the game just as much an important social event as it was a sporting event and the would hold a large celebration after each match (Orjan, 2006). This sport was only well documented in County Kerry and was called Caid (Coughlan, 2001). In the modern sport of Gaelic Football, up until about 150 years ago, violence was a large part of the game (Couhlan, 2001).
References: Biege, B. (2007). Gaelic Football - Gaelic Games - Sporting Events in Ireland. Ireland Travel - Traveling to and in Ireland - Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland Vacations. Retrieved December 10, 2012, from http://goireland.about.com/od/specialinterestholidays/qt/gg_football.htm Coughlan, C. (2001). History of Gaelic Football. About Gaelic Football. Retrieved December 10, 2012, from homepage.eircom.net/~lahardanemchales/about.html History of Gaelic Football. Boston GAA. Retrieved December 10, 2012, from http://www.bostongaa.org/gaelic-games/history-of-gaelic-football.html Orejan, J. (2006). The History of Gaelic Football and the Gaelic Athletic Association. The Sport Management and Related Topics Journal, 2(2), 45-50. Retrieved December 6, 2012, from http://www.thesmartjournal.com/GAA.pdf Temertzoglou, T., & Challen, P. (2003). History of Physical Education and Sport. Exercise Science An Introduction to Health and Physical Education, 1, 295