My husband and I would love to see a hurling match during our visit to Ireland. We'll be in Kilkenny on Friday, July 1, and in Dingle Town July 2-6 ( Saturday -Wednesday). We'll have a car. Later in our trip we'll be in Dublin July 11-14 (Monday-Thursday) without a car. Are there certain days of the week for which it is most likely a match would be scheduled? I've spent a lot of time on the GAA website and tried looking at local club websites, but unable to find a game scheduled ("fixture") that matches our itinerary. I understand that Dublin is likely to have a match on weekends, but sadly our itinerary won't permit that. Any advice is greatly appreciated!!
Posted by
317 posts
Hi Elaine
Alas you'll rarely see any hurling in Dingle, it is Gaelic Football territory. Kilkenny is the reverse. So you're likely to catch a game there, games are traditionally on Sundays, but underage games are often mid-week or on Friday evening, Saturday mornings etc.
There will be a lot of hurling games going on in Dublin during your time, the big games are on Sundays but all the clubs and underage teams will be playing. You'll just have to check closer to the time on the club websites, try clubs like 'na fianna' or 'ballyboden St. Endas', though every parish in Dublin (and the country) has a GAA club.
If you're stuck, Ill take you onto the lawn of my Dingle guesthouse and we'll give you a demo with my hurling sticks!
Good luck...
le meas/with respect
Stephen McPhilemy
Derry and Dingle
Rick Steves Ireland Tour-Guide
Posted by
Sunnyside, New York, United States
439 posts
Kilkenny is the place to see a hurling match. There are many good club teams in the area as well
Posted by
317 posts
Kilkenny is an ideal place to see a Hurling match, but they're only going to be they're for one evening, Friday July 1st, a small window of opportunity to catch a game, whereas they're in Dublin for 4 days.
Hurling is played in may parishes all over Ireland, North and South, so there'' be no problem catching a game somewhere on the journey...
Slainte!
Stephen McPhilemy
Ireland
Posted by
OP
Lake Mills
56 posts
Stephen and Mary, thank you for your helpful replies. Your offer to try out your equipment in Dingle is very kind, Stephen! Honestly, I'm wishing I'd arranged our itinerary a little differently, just to see a hurling match, now that I've learned about what an exciting game it is! I'll check back to see the hurling fixture calendars when it's a little closer to July and hopefully will come across a great game.