All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire island, but also has related meanings in politics and religion.

In sports

Many but far from all sports are organised on an all-Ireland basis.{{fv, date=June 2017 "All-Ireland" is often used as an abbreviation of All-Ireland Championship, held by sports organised on All-Ireland basis. In particular: *

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurling competition i ...

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

Many sports are organised on an all-Ireland basis, for example

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns slidi ...

Gaelic games Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichí Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, hockey, lawn bowls, korfball, Quidditch, rowing,

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

, in which case the international team is usually referred to simply as "Ireland". Others are organised primarily on an all-Ireland basis, but with both "Ireland" and "Great Britain" international teams, in which case participants from

may opt for either — these include

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

, swimming,

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

and any events at the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

. Some others have separate Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland organisations and teams, including notably

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

and

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in ...

. Similarly, the term may be used in reference to annual competitions in certain traditional music and art forms: * All-Ireland Fleadh in Irish music (see Fleadh Cheoil) * All-Ireland Feis in

Irish dance Irish dance refers to a group of traditional dance forms that originate in Ireland, encompassing dancing both solo and in groups, and dancing for social, competitive, and performance purposes. Irish dance in its current form developed from vari ...

* List of All-Ireland Champions in Traditional Irish music *''

The All Ireland Talent Show ''The All Ireland Talent Show'' was a Raidió Teilifís Éireann television series which was billed as Ireland's biggest-ever talent contest. It was first announced in November 2008 and the first series commenced broadcasting on 4 January 2009, ...

In religion

It is also used in the title Primate of All Ireland, the senior clergyman in each of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the sec ...

: * the

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh The Archdiocese of Armagh ( la, Archidioecesis Ardmachana; ga, Ard-Deoise Ard Mhacha) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the northern part of Ire ...

, the Catholic Primate of All Ireland * the Church of Ireland's

Archbishop of Armagh In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

, the Anglican Primate of All Ireland Most

Christian denominations Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ� ...

are organised on an All-Ireland basis, with a single organisation for both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

In politics

Irish republicanism Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. The develop ...

, expression "

Counties of Ireland The counties of Ireland ( Irish: ) are historic administrative divisions of the island into thirty-two units. They began as Norman structures, and as the powers exercised by the Cambro-Norman barons and the Old English nobility waned over time ...

" is often used instead: 32 as distinct from the 26 traditional counties of the Republic and the remaining 6 of Northern Ireland. Those who subscribe to

Irish republican legitimatism Irish republican legitimism denies the legitimacy of the political entities of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and posits that the pre- partition Irish Republic continues to exist. It is a more extreme form of Irish republicanism, w ...

, the concept that the

Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( ga, Poblacht na hÉireann or ) was an unrecognised revolutionary state that declared its independence from the United Kingdom in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland, but by ...

continues to exist, refer to the All-Ireland Republic to distinguish from the 26 county

Republican Sinn Féin Republican Sinn Féin or RSF ( ga, Sinn Féin Poblachtach) is an Irish republican political party in Ireland. RSF claims to be heirs of the Sinn Féin party founded in 1905 and took its present form in 1986 following a split in Sinn Féin. RS ...

hold an Eve of All Ireland Rally ahead of the senior All-Ireland Football Championship final on O'Connell Street, Dublin. The term is also sometimes used to refer to the cross-border agencies established by agreement between the Republic of Ireland and United Kingdom governments, and whose powers extend to both jurisdictions on the island:

North/South Ministerial Council sco, North South Meinisterlie Council , bgcolor = , fgcolor = , image = North-South_Ministerial_Council_logo.jpg , image_border = , size = , alt = Logo of the North/South Ministerial Council , ca ...

, Waterways Ireland, Food Safety Promotion Board, Special European Union Programmes Body, The North/South Language Body, Inter''Trade''Ireland,

Tourism Ireland Tourism Ireland (Irish: ''Turasóireacht Éireann''; Ulster-Scots: ''Tourism Airlan'' or ''Reengin Airlann'') is the marketing body responsible for marketing the island of Ireland overseas. Tourism Ireland was established as one of "six areas o ...

, and the Commissioners of Irish Lights and other

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organisations organised on an All-Ireland basis, such as Uplift (Ireland).

References

Sport in Ireland Irish culture

In sports

In religion

In politics

See also

References