GAA 125 refers to several events which took place during the 125th year of the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

(GAA) in 2009. The organisation was founded at

Hayes' Hotel Hayes' Hotel is a hotel in Liberty Square, Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland. In 1884 the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded in the billiards room of the hotel. History The hotel traded under the name 'The Star and Garter' in the 18th ce ...

Thurles Thurles (; ''Durlas Éile'') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of the same name in the barony of Eliogarty and in the ecclesiastical parish of Thurles. The cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Arch ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

on 1 November 1884. The

Irish Film Institute The Irish Film Institute (IFI; ), formerly the Irish Film Centre, is both an arthouse cinema and a national body that supports Irish film heritage. The IFI presents film festivals, retrospectives and curated seasons, along with independent, I ...

showed a film series to commemorate the occasion. A special exhibition was also held. '' The Late Late Show'' hosted a special episode dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the foundation of the GAA. The episode, presented by

Pat Kenny Patrick Kenny (born 29 January 1948) is an Irish broadcaster, who currently hosts the daily radio show ''The Pat Kenny Show'' on Newstalk and the current affairs show ''Pat Kenny Tonight'' on Virgin Media One. Prior to this, Kenny had a 41-ye ...

, was aired on

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

on 9 January 2009 and was planned well in advance as soon as the 2008 Toy Show had ended. The ''

Athlone Advertiser The ''Galway Advertiser'' is a free newspaper distributed throughout Galway city and County Galway, county each Thursday. History The ''Galway Advertiser'' was founded in 1970 by Ronnie O'Gorman, with the first edition published on 16 April 197 ...

'' said the show was "a shocker. A genuine shocker. So much of the show lacked élan and

panache Panache () is a word of French origin that carries the connotation of flamboyant manner and reckless courage, derived from the helmet-plume worn by cavalrymen in the Early Modern period. The literal translation is a plume, such as is worn on a ...

that it became very difficult to stop switching the bloody thing off". The ''

Evening Herald ''The Herald'' is a nationwide mid-market tabloid newspaper headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and published by Independent News & Media who are a subsidiary of Mediahuis. It is published Monday–Saturday. The newspaper was known as the ''Ev ...

'' put together a list of "125 New Year Resolutions " for the GAA in January 2009. Events were launched at

Croke Park Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic At ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, with the opening match of the National Football League 2009 between

and Tyrone on 31 January 2009. It was also only the second football match to take place under floodlights, following its predecessor in February 2008. The event included a fireworks display as well as commentary from Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh, with the festivities being hosted by

Hector Ó hEochagáin Shane Ó hEochagáin ( ; (of the tribe of Uí Néill) born 17 August 1969), known mononymously as Hector, is an Irish television and radio presenter born in Drogheda, County Louth, and raised in Navan, County Meath. He is best known for travel ...

. A soundtrack of Irish music featuring bands such as

The Cranberries The Cranberries were an Irish rock music, rock band formed in Limerick in 1989. The band was composed of lead singer and guitarist Dolores O'Riordan, guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan (Noel's brother), and drummer Fergal Lawler. O'Riord ...

and

Snow Patrol Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland, consisting of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), and Johnny McDaid (piano, guitar, keyboards, backi ...

was put together by

Larry Mullen Jr. Laurence Joseph Mullen Jr. (; born 31 October 1961) is an Irish musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band U2. A member of the band since its inception, he has recorded 15 studio albums with U2. Mullen's distinctive ...

for the fireworks display, whilst

Mundy Edmond Enright (born 19 May 1975), known professionally as Mundy, is an Irish singer-songwriter and founder of the independent record label Camcor Records. Biography He released his debut album ''Jelly Legs'' in 1996 on the Epic Records lab ...

and

Sharon Shannon Sharon Shannon (born 8 June 1968) is an Irish musician, best known for her work with the button accordion and for her fiddle technique. She also plays the tin whistle and Diatonic button accordion, melodeon. Her 1991 debut album, ''Sharon Shann ...

performed during half-time. The match ended with a victory for Tyrone by a score of 1–18 to 1–16.

President of Ireland The president of Ireland () is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The presidency is a predominantly figurehead, ceremonial institution, serving as ...

Mary McAleese Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer, academic, author, and former politician who served as the president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. McAleese was first elected as president in 1997, ...

gave the Ó Fiaich Lecture in March 2009, speaking about the significance of the organisation's history. On 17 March 2009 (

Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chris ...

), the GAA was a central feature of the Dublin parade. A conference occurred in Croke Park one day in April. 24 April 2009 was designated GAA 125 Schools Day and those of school-going age were encouraged to wear costumes related to the GAA. In May, two matches were held in Grangemockler,

, to remember Michael Hogan who was shot dead by authorities while on the field of play. At least 400,000 people from around the world took part in events held for ''Lá na gClub'' on 10 May 2009. Avondale's Parnell Summer School examined the connections between sport and society in August. A conference titled "The birth of Croke Park in the Ballyhoura mountains" took place that month in honour of

Frank Dineen Frank Brazil Dineen (1862 – 18 April 1916) was a Gaels, Gaelic Gaelic games, games administrator and the President of the Gaelic Athletic Association, fourth president of the Gaelic Athletic Association. From Ballylanders in County Limerick, ...

, a unique man in that he was a former president and secretary of the Gaelic Athletic Association.

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 () is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for the station in 2010 w ...

broadcast original commentary from its archive footage of

All-Ireland Football Final The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, All-Ireland Men's Senior Football Championship, the premier competition in Gaelic football, is an annual series of games played in Ireland during the summer and early autumn, and organised by the Gae ...

s and All-Ireland Hurling Finals on Sunday mornings between June and September.

Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

, a major sponsor of

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

and itself celebrating its own 250th anniversary in 2009, donated €250 per goal scored during the

2009 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship The 2009 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 123rd staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county hurling tournament. The draw for the 2000 fixtures took place on 8 Octob ...

, which led to nearly €25,000. The GAA 125 Quiz Final took place in Croke Park's Museum on 18 September 2009. Jimmy Magee was quizmaster on the night. The winner received a prize of a trophy, dinner, overnight stay in a hotel and tickets to the 2009 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final on the night of which they were also to appear on ''

The Sunday Game ''The Sunday Game'' is RTÉ's main Gaelic games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ2 every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one of RTÉ2's longest-running shows, having been on air since 1 ...

'' television highlights package on

. A qualifying round previously took place at the same venue three weeks earlier on 28 August 2009. Irish language television channel

TG4 TG4 (; , ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television channel. It launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on-demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was initially known as (TnaG), before bein ...

also conducted a similar quiz on its website in association with Jimmy Magee. A special book dedicated to the 125th year of the GAA will be released in November. It is titled ''The GAA—A People’s History''. The book includes journal entries and photographs from the 125-year period of the GAA's existence. On the anniversary on 1 November there was a

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

at Thurles Cathedral, a ceremony at

's Dr Croke monument, celebrations at the GAA Museum in Croke Park and a day of GAA television programming on TG4.

References

External links

Official website
of the

''The Late Late Show''—GAA Special
at

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

GAA 125 years photo exhibition at Croke Park
at ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaa 125 2009 in Gaelic games History of the Gaelic Athletic Association Irish historical anniversaries

See also

References

External links