Currently watching Dublin vs Westmeath in the GAA Football All-Ireland Leinster Semi-Final. With my girlfriend being Irish, her brother watches it and I've been following Down recently. Seems quite interesting and suprisingly entertaining. Got Down vs Armagh later on.

So anyone else?

Ive been following GAA for years and used to play a bit as well. The football championship in the summer is superb and there are always some fantastic matches, the Down v. Tyrone replay a couple of weeks ago was a great game. Hopefully Down stick it on Armagh this afternoon as well.

With players representing the county of their birth there is great local pride you dont really get in many other other sports.

Hurling is good too but spoiled a bit of late by the same teams dominating year in year out.

God damn Armagh.

Up by 3 after 20 minutes.

it strikes me as the type of sport you'd invent with your pals when you were about 8yrs old.

Maybe so, they take it very seriously though. Never tried watching it yet.

That reminds of when I was about 7 myself and ma pals inventing the rule at fitba "if the keeper gets a hand to the ball and it still goes in its no a goal"

Christ knows what we were on

Does GAA football count as 'Other Fitba'?

If not, get it off tae f*ck. General nonsense for this pish.

Dunno. But when Beyemystic sees the topic is "Gaa" and not "GAA" he'll have a hissy fit

As its another code of football I think you can just about get away with it .

I thought tims pyoor luvvd Irish culchur?

Actually I have memories of watching the RTE coverage of Gaelic stuff on a grainy wee telly during annual long summer holidays in the south. Although I built up a sort of admiration for the 'Lillywhites' of Kildare (can't remember why) it was essentially quite boring. Primarily because I never understood the rules or, by extension, what was going on.

Still, when one's 'holidays' consisted of a month driving round rainy Ireland in an Austin Montego and meeting progressively more eccentric relatives, you had to take your entertainment where you found it

I actually quite enjoyed watching it, it gives an interesting slant to the game and although not quite as violent as Aussie rules still has it's merits. The fact that the All Ireland final attracts tens of thousands of fans is ridiculous - it's a shame that the players get shafted a bit.

Gaelic Football is an incredible sport. The fitness involved is phenomenal. Hurley is better in my eyes, but I'm biased as a Shinty man. One of the aspects of the Irish way of things that I am envious of is the prevalence of the two sports in terms of participation, following and above all their amateur basis. With Shinty blood it really is something to see, the All Ireland at Croke Park in either dicipline, really puts the interest, coverage and attendances of Shinty in perspective. However, good to see a mention on the site without the normal dross attached to posts slightly related to Ireland.

NB... Attendances fill Croke Park in the finals, must be 70,000-80,0000 without the full stadium upgraded.

I'm going to try my best to follow it in the future. Watched the Dublin match before the Down match, and it beggars belief sometimes with the way the game goes.

Very much enjoyed the match against Armagh even if Down lost.

Last time I was in Dublin it was full of people in shirts for teams, I think there were two games at Croke Park that day, really good to see rival fans mix with no trouble, and some local pride. Would never happen in Scotland

Why don't you have your r*ngers crest as your avatar?

I went to the Finals at Croke park years ago. Two games (?) which I seem to remember being fairly entertained byconsidering I bought the tickets because I thought it was football, not GAA.

Because I'm not a Rangers fan

Oooooh. How exciting. An all-British semi-final.

Owen Mulligan downs the Dubs in 2005..

http://youtube.com/watch?v=iwV4ZCITrnc&feature=related

And a wee scuffle between the few teams a few months later..

http://youtube.com/watch?v=lXg_JYPkDac&feature=related

I motherf'king love Gaelic football. It is a brilliant sport. It's got all the fundamental skills of ball sport while still being an absolute bitch to master and perfect. I've been playing at University and also for a club and it's just great.

If you're struggling to understand it, Wikipedia it for the basic rules cos it's a perfectly logical sport and challenging sport to take part in. Easy to learn, bitch-ass difficult to master (like any great sport). It's just a shame that it's restricted to the Irish and Irish diaspora tho. Any club makes new players feel welcome however.

As for the Championship, I've been told that I shouldn't be supporting Dublin as no-one outside Dublin likes them! Being from the Borders, a relatively diddy part in Scotland sports-wise - even at rugby - I have a soft spot for the efforts of Carlow but they'll never win ANYTHING. I think Meath beat them 1-25 0-08 a while back! Growing affections for Wexford (in the final of the Leinster I think) and Westmeath just now and Tipperary in the hurling but I'm willing to lean towards any county that I visit or meet a brilliant person from a particular place. I tend to support counties on who I meet from wherever they are. If an ar'hole comes from Clare, I'll want them to gat hammered unlike if I beat an awesome lad from Sligo sort of thing.

Look up your local GAA club if you're from the cities:

Glasgow - Tir Conail Harps; Glaschu Gaels; Sands McSwinneys
Edinburgh - Dunedin Connollys
Dundee - Dundee Dalriada (my team)

Great way to keep fit and an awesome social scene!

Famous win by Tyrone today to clinch their 3rd All-Ireland title . After all the injury problems they have suffered over the last 3 years then going out to Down in Ulster back in June I would never have predicted they would come back and win Sam this year, a great achievement by a great team.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_i...mes/7628281.stm

hurling is good too?buddy ,hurlings exceptional,football can't hold a candle to it!i take your point that ,with kilkenny being so far in front of the rest,the outcome of the championship is hardly in doubt over the next few years but it doesn't detract from the overall state of the game.

while fancied slightly beforehand,after their performances in the ulster championship i don't think anyone would have predicted that they could recover and go on to win sam.and to think ,tyrone fans were calling for mickey hartes head after the defeat to down.fair play to them

My ex played kamogie (sp?), it looked brutal and I feared for her shins. Nowt worse than going out for a meal with a chick with sticking plasters all over her pins...

Watched a few games when over in Dublin, it looks brutal, well the football does.

I believe you are Munster man Caoimhin so I understand the Hurling bias . My own Irish roots are in the North and as such I cant really see past the football. Hurling is a great game though, a close second behind Shinty as the best stick based sport.

that i am but i'm afraid we'll have to agree to disagree as to the relative merits of each game is there anywhere online i could watch a game of shinty?

Followed GAA all my life, Dubs is my team always was and always will be.
http://www.hill16.ie/

edit: due to my understanding that this topic initially started in the misc other footie area.

The football is great to watch, hurling less so.

I lasted 20 minutes watching Carey Faughs before I went and sat in the car to listen to Sportsound.

If I had to pick a football team it would Antrim, due to my husband's family, but like Falkirk they are never going to win anything!

dublin got battered out of it this year didn't they!can't see them improving next year either,a serious lack of heart when it really matters.and skinnyjean i feel your pain,i'm a limerick man.haven't won a provincial or national title in this century or the last.can't fathom how anyone could prefer football to hurling though

Indeed Tyrone hammering Dublin out of Croke Park (again) was one of the highlights of my sporting summer . Especially as the Dubs somehow believed they were favourites going into the match. Wouldnt say a lack of heart was their big problem, ultimately just didnt have the same class of player as Tyrone (or Kerry).Rinky is being a bit harsh on the lad above to be honest, this thread started out in Misc Other Football Chat and that was what was being referred to.

Not much shinty to be seen online since the bounci tv site stopped showing games. Fantastic goal here though by Ronald Ross http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3Lvqx-7NuA That boy would walk onto the Limerick panel .

The Scotland - Ireland shinty/hurling match will be live on BBC 2 Scotland this Saturday. Think its live on TG4 in Ireland as well.

The Tyrone v Dubs game was very satisfying. A friend of mine is a big Dubs fan. When I get calls on my mobile phone from him I answer with 'Brian Dooher Appreciation Society'. Eoin Mulligan has sort of fallen off the Red Hand radar these past couple of years. What a game he had in the 2005 final though. Nothing to do with ancestral antipathy towards Kerry's football team, you understand.

I think (and hope) Mugsy will be back in form next season. Was out injured March-August this year and found it hard to force his way back onto a winning team when he returned. An excellent man to send on for the last 15 minutes of an All-Ireland Final though and the ginger beard alone must have frightened Kerry .

Click to view attachment

after the disgrace that was this years attempt at the championship waspie i'd probably walk onto the limerick panel if you're on youtube yourself have a look for a goal scored by fenton of cork against limerick,lovely ground hurling(shinty). you are right about dublin,the players aren't there.i can't see kerry holding off tyrone next year though.

just watched it,great strike

Scotland beat Ireland in the Shinty/Hurling international in Kilkenny.

i watched it,it wasn't the worst.but until ireland start selecting their best players we'll keep getting piss poor attendances.only around a thousand people bothered to show up for that yesterday and there was very little coverage in the media beforehand.compare it to the amount of ink wasted on the footballers who travel to australia this week for 2 tests ,its a disgrace. the only international the g.a.a should be encouraging is the one against the scots.at least they're not using it as an excuse to poach our players

Holy crap, what a fizzogue.

Sometimes there's much to be said for Scottish fitba teams going bust ... especially if it meant more folk watched shinty.

Why the feck is Setanta not showing the International rules test matches between Australia and Ireland? Keeps advertising it but according to the Sky menu its only available in Ireland. Whats the deal with that when they show so much GAA and AFL on Setanta for UK viewers? I e-mailed Setanta aking this and apparantly a member of their customer services team would get back to me, 3 days later Im still f*ckn waiting! Anybody know anything?

According to the listings on the Setanta website the first test is on Setanta 1 from 0030 Saturday morning. This match is always a poor imitation of genuine Gaelic Football but its still worth watching and some extra spice this year to see if the Aussie's improve their behaviour after some of the shocking scenes from 2006. If they dont the GAA should tell them to stick the series.

Got family in Oz who follow there local AFL club, so always like to give my backing to the Irish lads, tell them its a real mans game that type of thing!

Turns out this will be a repeat, the game is live on Setanta 2 at from 11am Friday. Ill be working then so will be aiming to avoid the score and then watch the match as live on Friday night.

First test was a blinder, wont spoil it by telling the score but great game to watch. Melbourne should be good now.

It's a shame there's no pub in Ayr we can watch Setanta Ireland. I'm flying down to Essex on Thursday and will be watching the second Test live in a bar in Seven Kings. Brilliant, especially after the first game.

Coming from Co. Cork though, you can't beat your hurling !

Again I thought the match couldnt compare to a decent Gaelic Football match but it was pretty good and the fact it was close made it exciting. The Aussies looked to be getting a bit p*ssed off when they fell behind with a couple of poor challenges and hopefully thats not the sign of things to come for the second test!

I have to ask, which bar in Seven Kings? Used to live in Goodmeyes and have drank in a few down there that showed the games.

Castlemartyr: the centre of the universe.

Not quite sure yet but it looks like the one underneath The Shannon. Thing is there's a number of pubs in the area but that one's perfect for the station (says Lazy O'Booze).