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History
Born in Carron, County Clarke, in 1847, Michael Cusack spent his life as an Irish schoolteacher. After spending a few
years in the United States, he returned to Ireland and began teaching in Newry, Blackrock College, and Clongowes Wood. Troubled
by the declining participation in many indigenous Irish games, Cusack began meeting with sports enthusiasts throughout all
of Ireland, most notable Maurice Davin, to attempt to remedy the situation (Clare). Together with Davin, he called a general
meeting in Hayes'; Commercial Hotel in County Tipperary on November 1, 1884. It was in this meeting that the Gaelic Athletic
Association or GAA was founded.
The initial goal of the GAA was to resurrect the Tailteanne Games, an ancient sporting event held in Ireland in honor
of Queen Tailte (who reigned in the sixth century B.C.E. [Tailte]), and establish an Irish organization for promoting athletics.
At its conception, the GAA had three distinct goals, which are stated as follows:
1) To foster and promote native Irish Pastimes.
2) To open athletics to all social classes.
3) To aid in the establishment of hurling and football clubs which would organize matches between counties.
Today, the associations aim has changed slightly. Although it continues to support hurling and football, it has broadened
its scope to include many more athletic events. Its primary purpose today is "the organization of native pastimes and
the promotion of athletic fitness as a means to create a disciplined, self-reliant, national-minded manhood. The overall
result is the expression of a people's preference for native ways as opposed to imported ones" (GAA Guide).
Structure
The Gaelic Athletic Association is a democratic association consisting of various councils, boards, and committees organized
in a structural hierarchy and are run from its world headquarters at Croke Park. Although all of the association's activities
are governed by an Official Guide, each distinct county board may have its own by-laws and regulations. However, no such
regulations may conflict with the code set forth by the Official Guide. The hierarchy of rule is as follows (GAA):
Annual Congress
President
Central Council
Provincial Councils
County Board
Club Committee
Achievements
Since the historic meeting at Haynes' Hotel, the GAA has grown to become the most popular organization in Ireland, possessing
over 800,000 members. Organizing competitive games at all levels from youth all the way up to adult senior and the inter-county
All-Ireland Championships, where all 32 counties of Ireland compete to win Provincial Championships, the All-Ireland Senior
Football Championship, and the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the GAA has become a cultural phenomenon. Not only
has it created a unified athletic system, it has also saved the ancient game of hurling from certain extinction. Today, it
has over 2,500 clubs and, because these clubs are evenly distributed in both urban and rural areas throughout the country,
it is clear that the GAA's presence is a major player in the sporting and cultural life of Ireland.
For more information on the GAA, you can follow the links provided below:
Clare, Clare People: Michael Cusack. 25 Jan. 2007. http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/people/cusack.htm
GAA Guide, Official Guide of the Gaelic Athletic Association. 26 Jan. 2007. http://www.gaa.ie/files/gaa_official_guide2003.pdf
Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). GAA. 2006. 10 Nov. 2006 http://www.gaa.ie/
Tailte, Proposal for The Teltown Fair and Commemorative Funeral Games - 2000. 25 Jan. 2007. http://jahtruth.net/teltga.htm
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