The indigenous sports of hurling and Gaelic football are as much a part of Ireland's national identity as Guinness, James Joyce, and U2. And if these games are Ireland's soul, then Croke Park is its sporting shrine.
"The Croke Park experience is a national pilgrimage made annually by hundreds of thousands of supporters from the four corners of the island," says Joanne Clarke, manager of the Gaelic Athletic Association Museum. "It is a quintessentially Irish experience to be at a game just before throw-in and to hear the national anthem being sung by a capacity crowd."
"Every young player on the island of Ireland dreams of playing in Croke Park," says Gearóid Devitt, a tour guide at the stadium. "It's hard to describe in words what Croke Park means to Irish people, no matter what county they hail from, but national pride, fond childhood memories, sporting heartbreak, stories heard from parents and grandparents, and legends forged are all rolled into one to give this place a universal aura."
The stadium, which soars above the neighboring row houses of working-class north Dublin, has 82,300 seats and is among the largest in Europe. It is testimony to the continued popularity of Gaelic games. Although the first All-Ireland Finals played at the site was in 1896, the stadium that locals affectionately call "Croker" is a gleaming, state-of-the-art structure since a massive renovation was completed in 2005. It's a blend of modernity and tradition, Gillette Stadium and Fenway Park rolled into one.
