Croke Park Stadium

Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland is the largest sports stadium in Ireland and the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association, Ireland’s biggest sporting organisation. The stadium is in the heart of the city, a 15 minute walk from the main thoroughfare O’Connell Street.

Since 1884 the site has been used primarily by the GAA to host Gaelic games, most notably the annual finals of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and Senior Hurling Championship. Music concerts by major international acts have also been held in “Croker”, as it is often called, and it hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2003 Special Olympics. During the refurbishment of Lansdowne Road the stadium is also hosting the Irish national rugby union and soccer teams.

Following a redevelopment programme started in the 1990s, Croke Park has a capacity of 82,300, making it the fourth largest stadium in Europe and the current largest stadium in the Six Nations Championship. It has also held the world record for largest attendance at a club rugby union match since 2 May 2009.

Croke Park Stadium Design

In the 1980s the organisation decided to investigate ways to increase the capacity of the old stadium. The design for an 80,000 capacity stadium was completed in 1991. Gaelic Sports have special requirements as they take place on a large field. A specific requirement was to ensure the spectators were not too far from the field of play. This resulted in the three-tier design from which viewing games is possible: the main concourse, a premium level incorporating hospitality facilities and finally an upper concourse. The premium level contains restaurants, bars and conference areas. The project was split into four phases over a 14-year period.

Croke Park Stadium Pics

Croke Park Stadium Video