Limerick
Pearse Stadium in Galway
Dr. Hyde Park
Portlaoise
Newry
Casement Park
I’m not mad on Omagh or Ballybofey either. Ballybofey has too much sitka spruce.
Clones and Thurles are iconic and that is always enough. They’re great precisely because they’re dilapidated shitholes of towns and big matches take over the place. The same reasons they’re great are the same reasons Slane is great for concerts.
Killarney and Cork are good for reasons already stated or which don’t need to be stated.
In the 10-20k capacity category, Armagh and Ennis are the best in the country. The Shed in Ennis is iconic and the best thing about the round robin in hurling is the showcase it give Ennis as a great hurling venue.
Breffni is decent enough. Castlebar is OK, especially for Saturday night league games.
I’ve long been a champion of Newbridge. It and Walsh Park in Waterford are two grounds which with a bit of TLC could become great boutique venues, like Armagh is now.
Nowlan Park is a good stadium but the crowds there tend to be a bit passionless unless Wexford are playing a Saturday night hurling qualifier against Waterford or something. Be interesting to see what atmosphere Kildare v Dublin brings to it.
Because of Pearse Stadium’s pre-eminence in Galway now, it means that the natural home venues of Galway football and hurling teams suffer. Tuam was an iconic venue for Connacht finals. Athenry would be an iconic home venue for Galway hurlers if it was upgraded to a capacity of 12-13k or thereabouts.
Some grounds are suited to particular types of games. Walsh Park and Wexford Park are at their best for provincial under-21 hurling semi-finals. Cusack Park in Mullingar for All-Ireland under-21 football finals. Newbridge for Leinster club football finals or O’Byrne Cup finals. Armagh for Ulster club finals or Dr. McKenna Cup group stage games on Wednesday nights.
Nowlan Park was great for the two Saturday night qualifiers between Waterford and Wexford. And the league semi finals in 2015. It was full and it was rocking.
Walsh Park was great when there’d be an under 21 final between Tipp and Kilkenny. Full to the rafters and heaving. The fire officer has put paid to that now.
I’ve never been to OMP when it was full or to O’Connor Park when it was full but both are perfectly good grounds.
Dr Cullen Park was a grand ground for the 2005 qualifier vs Offaly. Again a big crowd in. Its situation just outside the town with access to major roads is a big plus.
Chadwicks Wexford Park is in a grand spot with easy access to the town.
Cusack Park, Mullingar is a dump in a great spot in the town. It’s a shame they never did the land swap they were negotiating back in the day.
Salthill is the only major county ground (hurling) I’ve never been in as a spectator I hope to right that next year. I haven’t heard good things about accessibility though. I played a challenge football match there decades ago.
Imagine a knock out Kerry v Tyrone game with all the baggage attached at that time didn’t sell out in the home ground of the county in which the sport is an ABSOLUTE OBSESSION. Like it’s literally all every single person there seems to talk about. It sums up the difficulty of selling gaa as a ‘product’, it’s just very very strange and I don’t know is there any rhyme or reason to it. It’s both incredibly important and popular and at the same time nobody really gives a shite about it.
24,370 attended it. I suppose there is the excuse that Killarney is about as hard a venue to get to as possible on the island for Tyrone supporters, and extortionate in terms of accommodation. Also qualifiers for some reason never got the same crowd as provincial championship matches.
True. I can imagine those roads around the Woodenbridge being a culture shock for Dubs used to motorway travel. When did a Dublin team last play in Aughrim though? St Vincent’s when they lost to Rathnew in 2017 or possibly a minor game in 2018?
