Croke Park
Croke Park is headquarters to the Gaelic Athletic Association. It was purchased in 1913 following an extremely successful tournament, held in the grounds, to raise funds for a suitable monument to the GAA’s first patron, Archbishop Thomas Croke. The final of this tournament was played on 4 March 1913 with Kerry facing Louth. The attendance of 26,000 surpassed all expectations. The game ended in a draw and the replay, on 29 June, was eagerly awaited. Such was the excitement that the three major Irish railway companies ran over 40 special trains to Dublin for the replay, carrying more than 20,000 passengers. Special stands were erected and voluntary stewards controlled the crowds. The gates were closed after 32,000 spectators had been admitted but thousands more swarmed along or over the railway wall. So successful was this venture that the Association could think seriously of acquiring a new central sports ground. When all expenses had been met Central Council had made £2,365. On 27 July 1913 it was decided to buy the ground on Jones Road and re-name it Croke Memorial Park.
The GAA’s first effort at modernisation was the addition of terracing in 1917, which was built using rubble from Dublin’s Sackville Street (now O’Connell Street) caused by the upheavals of the Easter Rising the year before. This area is still referred to as Hill 16.
Croke Park is further linked to the revolutionary period in Ireland through the events of November 1920 when twelve civilians were killed when British auxiliaries fired into the crowd during a match between Dublin and Tipperary, the proceeds of which were to be donated to the Irish Republican Prisoners Fund. The Hogan Stand is named after the Tipperary player Michael Hogan, who was one of the victims.
Croke Park has been redeveloped many times through its history. The Cusack Stand, completed in 1938 at a cost of £50,000, was regarded as one of the finest in Europe at the time. It had two tiers – 5,000 seats on the upper deck and terracing underneath. In 1966 this terracing was replaced with seating for 9,000 spectators. The all-time record for attendance was reached in 1961 when Down beat Offaly in the All-Ireland Football Final before 90,556 fans.
In the 1980’s an extensive plan for the entire redevelopment of Croke Park was set in train. This redevelopment was staged in four phases starting in 1993 with the new Cusack Stand. The architect for Phases One, Two and Three was Gilroy McMahon. Their main challenge was to develop a large stadium in an inner city environment, with a canal and railway on one side, a city street on another and a disused rugby ground on another. The redevelopment culminated in 2005 with the a new Hill 16. The redevelopment was completed in just over 12 years and had to be scheduled around the annual GAA calendar.
In 2007 Croke Park hosted international soccer and rugby matches for the first time. The BBC explained the significance to a non-Irish audience.
Today Croke Park is one of the largest stadiums in Europe. It has a capacity of 83,000.
Photograph 1 (Croke Park in 1948): copyright GAA Museum, Croke Park
Photograph 2: Croke Park in the 1990s
Photograph 3: Croke Park today
