Rule 27 of the

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

(GAA), also known as "the Ban", was a rule in force from 1905 to 1971 that banned members of the GAA from playing or watching other sports such as rugby, soccer or hockey.

The rule

The text of Rule 27How President's soccer 'insult' led to war with GAA

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet n ...

, 25 September 2019 originally read: While potentially applying to any non-Irish sport, in practice the rule was mostly applied to English sports: rugby, football (soccer) and hockey were named initially, with

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 ...

being added shortly afterward.Ireland: 1001 Things You Need to Know, Richard Killeen
Google Books
/ref>Rule 27: When a love for the 'wrong' kind of football would see you ostracised
The 42, 11 May 2015 GAA members were prohibited from playing, watching or attending any event associated with these sports.A ‘foreign game’—President Hyde and GAA Rule 27
- History Ireland In some areas, "vigilance committees" were sent to football and rugby matches to check for any GAA members: any member who was found watching or playing could be expelled from the GAA.

Douglas Hyde

On 13 November 1938

Douglas Hyde Douglas Ross Hyde ( ga, Dubhghlas de hÍde; 17 January 1860 – 12 July 1949), known as (), was an Irish academic, linguist, scholar of the Irish language, politician and diplomat who served as the first President of Ireland from June 1938 t ...

, then

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Ireland and the supreme commander of the Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms.Constitu ...

and a patron of the GAA, attended an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

match at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park ( Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known ...

between

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

with the

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the offi ...

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...

. As a result, he was removed from his patronage and banned from the GAA, despite Hyde's being a founder of the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it em ...

and staunch supporter of the GAA. The GAA did not accept the principle that the President should be allowed to attend any sporting event until 1945.

Abolition

During the late 1960s, Rule 27 had become not only increasingly outdated, since football and rugby had come to be increasingly popular in Ireland, but also unenforceable, as GAA members had been able to watch these sports on television for some years. It was finally abolished at the GAA's annual congress in Belfast in 1971.The president, the ban and the truly Gaelic Gaels
Irish Times, 9 February 2013

References

Bibliography

*''The GAA v Douglas Hyde: The Removal of Ireland’s First President as GAA Patron'', Cormac Moore, The Collins Press {{Gaelic Athletic Association 1905 establishments in Ireland 1971 disestablishments in Ireland Gaelic Athletic Association terminology 27 Gaelic games controversies History of the Gaelic Athletic Association Politics and sports

The rule

Douglas Hyde

Abolition

See also

References

Bibliography