Written by Max
Ground #51
Sunday 18th March 2023
Allianz Hurling League Division 1 – Group B
Dublin 1-29 (32) – 0-20 (20) Laois County
Attendance: Unknown
Entry: €18
For St Patricks day this year we decided to celebrate properly on the emerald isle so travelled to Dublin for 6 days of Guinness, whiskey and exploring. Sadly we missed out on any League of Ireland football, but instead opted to sample some of Ireland’s unique GAA.
Going into the game we had very little knowledge of the sport of hurling, other than a few games we had watched in the background of various Irish pubs on holidays. We were excited to learn about a new sport, but also to compare the sporting day out to a day at the football in England. For anyone that has never seen the sport before, the best (and definitely most uneducated) way we could describe it is a mad mixture between hockey, rugby, football and basketball with a completely unique scoring system. It sounds crazy, and it most certainly is!
Today’s game saw mid table Dublin come up against a struggling Laois who were rooted to the bottom of the division going into the game. From the off the hosts took control of the game with multiple scores from long range giving them a huge lead at half time. This included the only goal of the game when, after a great save from the visiting keeper, the forward poked the rebound into the net.
Into the second half we went and the weather began to turn. A freezing wind and rain blew into the stand and we both began to regret only wearing jackets to the match! The hosts seemed to struggle massively and didn’t manage to score a point for 14 minutes as Laois chipped away at the lead with plenty of long range scores. Just as it looked as though they would bring themselves back into the game though, Dublin woke up and increased their lead to end the game with a 12 point winning margin.
To prove just how cold it was in the second half, as well as possibly how little he was tested, the Dublin keeper wore a coat over his kit for the majority of the second half! Now we have never seen that before!
Before we go onto the ratings for today’s match, as this blog is something slightly different to normal, we thought we would look at one or two of the big differences between our day at the Hurling compared with football in England.
The first of these we noticed before kick off as we decided to go for a pre match pint. We arrived at the nearest pub to the ground just over an hour before the 1:45 kick off and were surprised to be the only people in the place! We even had to ask the barman if we had got the right day for the game and he said yes but we don’t usually get fans in here unless it’s a big game. The pub was filled with GAA memorabilia so it was really strange to see no one else in there!
The reason for this would be found out later as when we arrived at the ground we noticed the vast majority of the crowd were children. I’d estimate the crowd at around 2-3000 at the game and looking around it mustn’t have been far off a 50/50 split between adults and children. Dads had brought their sons and full youth teams had come along with their coaches to see the match. This was brilliant to see and it was great that at half time 2 kids matches were played on the pitch.
This meant the entire game was played in front of an incredibly family friendly and positive atmosphere with polite applause for every point scored.
Now to the all important scores for the home of Dublin GAA, Parnell Park:
Location: 6/10
Parnell Park is in the North East of Dublin, just over an hours walk from the City centre. There is a train station just a few minute walk away though and plenty of buses that will drop you off near the ground.
The nearest pub, which we mentioned above, was around a 15 minute walk from the ground and was full of signed shirts and other GAA memorabilia. It was just a shame it was completely empty on our visit as we would have loved to have spoken to some fans to learn more about the sport before the game.
Kit: 9/10
Dublin’s kit is a lovely shade of light blue with dark blue sleeves and shorts. The white number as well as sponsor and stripes down the side of the kit all stood out well making for a really nice all round it design.
Compared with football kits the shorts and socks are both much shorter
Facilities: 2/10
Disappointingly the facilities at the stadium were pretty limited. When we arrived at the ground we saw a man selling scarves and flags next to a bus but bypassed him expecting a club shop or stall within the ground. When we entered through the turnstiles we saw a large illuminated sign saying ‘SHOP’. We headed over excitedly but as we got closer we realised it was just the tea bar.
This was a large hatch in the back of the stand which was open to all the elements so we did get rather wet when picking up our half time supplies! Obviously we have never been to a GAA stadium before so have nothing to compare this to, but we felt that the side representing the capital at the countries most famous and unique sport would have a slightly better area for spectators and perhaps a proper club shop.
Look: 7/10
When arriving at the ground we were shocked by the brutalist design of the outside of the stadium. The all grey concrete stand and wall topped with barbed wire made the ground look more like a prison than a sports ground, and certainly didn’t fit with the family atmosphere we would later experience during the match. Unless we missed it there were also no signs to point out that this was in fact the home of Dublin GAA. Surely a bright blue sign depicting this would make a huge difference?
Luckily though, once inside, the stadium has a completely different look with modern terracing and seating. The main stand is home to all of the grounds 2,800 seats which are all the clubs distinctive light blue colour. We, along with the majority of the supporters, watched the whole game from this stand and got a great view of the action, although with freezing wind and rain blowing directly into the stand at times it did get rather cold!
The other 3 sides of the ground are surrounded my modern looking terracing. A smattering of supporters decided to watch the game from each of these stands as the ground was certainly far from full. Behind one of the goals was an electronic scoreboard, which was certainly needed with the large amount of scoring that happens in the sport!
Food and Drink: 1/10
We were both really excited to see what the catering at Gaelic sports was like, and decided to save ourselves and not eat until the game with it being a lunchtime kick off. This was a big mistake as when we wandered down to the concourse at half time saw that only hot and cold soft drinks were available alongside chocolate bars. So a chocolate bar each with a cup of tea and a can of coke it was!
This was really disappointing and very surprising seeing as with over 1,000 children at the game surely it would make sense for the clubs to at least put on some simple hot food such as chips or a hot dog and they’d make a killing?
TOTAL SCORE: 25/50
In the end we really enjoyed our day at Parnell Park, learning all about and seeing a new sport live in a new country. It was really interesting comparing the matchday traditions between the 2 sports and it is really interesting, and strange, that this sport isn’t played anywhere else in the world.
If we have missed anything or have made any mistakes in this blog which massively offend any huge GAA fans then we can only apologise as we went into the game as complete newbies to the sport. We would love to hear any feedback or comments on our blog or the scores given by any true fans of the sport that may be reading this.
Below are some more photos from the game, aswell as our time in Ireland. Thanks for reading, and we hope you enjoyed this slightly different to normal blog!
Emma’s Ground Guide 