Croke Park
There are few sporting grounds in the world with a history quite as complicated as Croke Park. This is the home of the GAA, Gaelic football and hurling, rather than rugby, and for many years rugby wasn't even allowed through the gates.
That changed when Lansdowne Road was demolished to make way for the new Aviva Stadium. The GAA relaxed its famous Rule 42, allowing Croke Park to be used for rugby and football while the new stadium was being built.The first rugby international here, Ireland v France in February 2007, was historic in its own right. But it was the Ireland v England Six Nations match a couple of weeks later that really entered the history books.
Croke Park had a particularly painful connection with the match. On Bloody Sunday in 1920, British forces opened fire on spectators at a Gaelic football match here, killing 14 civilians. So when England arrived in 2007, there was enormous significance attached to the occasion, particularly when God Save the Queen was played at Croke Park for the first time. The anthem was respected, the occasion passed without incident and Ireland produced a memorable 43–13 victory.
It was one of those sporting occasions where the atmosphere was about far more than what was happening on the pitch. The Irish side and supporters seemed to understand the significance of the moment, while the English players and supporters played their part in ensuring that history did not become a distraction.
Rugby stayed at Croke Park for several seasons while Lansdowne Road was being rebuilt. It also became a temporary home for provincial rugby, producing another remarkable occasion when Leinster played Munster in a 2009 Heineken Cup semi-final in front of 82,208, at the time a world record attendance for a club rugby match.Once the Aviva Stadium opened in 2010, regular Irish international rugby returned to its traditional home. Croke Park therefore went back to being primarily what it has always been: the spiritual home of Gaelic sport.
But rugby hasn't disappeared completely. Leinster can use Croke Park when the Aviva isn't available, giving the ground the occasional opportunity to remind everyone that it can do rugby rather well too. The IRFU has confirmed that Leinster have access to Croke Park for such occasions.
And that is probably the best way to approach Croke Park as a rugby ground. It isn't one. It's a magnificent GAA stadium that occasionally becomes a magnificent rugby stadium. And when it does, the combination of its enormous capacity, steep stands and extraordinary history makes it rather special.
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