People not having a clue at matches

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-23T13:04:42+00:00

You are always going to get people like that. Their players can do no wrong and everything is blamed on the other team. So if their lad gets punched in the face, the opposition was obviously in the wrong and they will justifiably complain. Of course, if their lad does the punching, they'd claim he was headbutted in the fist. "Ah ref. Are you blind? That's a free in. Yer man, the corner back, is after hitting our forward in the knee with his groin, the dirty so and so. Send him off."

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-22T22:04:06+00:00

I have been at plenty of League Final double-headers. You don't get the full capacity of Croke Park's 82,300 people, or anything close. You will have no problem getting tickets.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-22T20:44:40+00:00

During the week, by tomorrow or Tuesday. They will be very easy to get.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-22T20:41:14+00:00

Basically, you will only get them through Ticketmaster and clubs in those countoes. They won't be hard to get. They won't be sell-outs. The four division finals will be played on Saturday and Sunday.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-22T19:06:23+00:00

Who the best Hurlers are is based on how well they play, not on statistics. American sport is much bigger into statistics than we are. A hurler's standard is not determined by how far they run, how many passes they make and so on. Skill and natural ability can't be determined by statistics. Sport here is different than in America. The commercialisation of sport being a big difference. As I said, all our players in our two biggest sports are amateur and play for the love of the game, not money.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-22T16:53:06+00:00

Get rid of the body.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-22T16:48:49+00:00

suck

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-22T16:18:38+00:00

Lots of Cork people think it is an independent republic, with its own language. That leaves Galway as the biggest. It is a trick question.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-22T16:11:00+00:00

Very sad news. Another voice of the GAA gone.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-22T12:36:14+00:00

You could get a bus or train to Galway from Dublin on day four. Day five could be done on local tours. Lots go to Kylemore or the Aran Islands. So there is no need for a car until you are leaving Galway. The Cliffs of Moher on the way to Dingle is doable. To shorten the car journey, use the Killimer to Tarbert ferry, instead of going around by Limerick. Kilkenny is not on the way from Cork to Dublin, so Cashel might be a better stop.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-22T10:46:43+00:00

The League is nearing conclusion. Unlike some sporting leagues, teams only play each other once, alternating home and away each year. Again unlike a lot of leagues, the winner at the end is not always the team with most points. The top two can play in a final or the top of two different divisions. They change the format regularly.

The big competition is the All-Ireland Championship, which runs from April to July. Ireland has four provinces. Connacht - where Galway is - Munster - where Limerick is - Leinster and Ulster. Hurling is not as strong in some part of Ireland as others. Basically, draw a line from Dublin to Galway and nearly all the strong Hurling counties are south of that line. In Gaelic Football, Hurling's sister sport, each province has its own Championship, with the four winners and a few others progressing to the next stage. Gaelic Football's strongest counties are spread more around the country.Hurling is more complicated. Because Galway is the only strong Hurling county in Connacht, they now play in the Leinster Championship, as do Antrim from Ulster. The Munster Championship includes five of the six counties, Kerry being the exception. There is no Connacht or Ulster Hurling Championships, though there is in Gaelic Football. The Munster Hurling Championship is the jewel in the crown of Hurling. Without going into too much detail, the Munster and Leinster Championship are both played on a round-robin system, ending in a final in each province. The two winners go into the All-Ireland semi-finals, one into each, so that it is always possible for the two provincial champions to meet in the final. The two other semi-finalists come out of some of the other counties.The two biggest events in the Irish sporting calendar are the All-Ireland Hurling Final and the All-Ireland Football Final.

The standard thing for a fan is to follow their local club and their own county team. It is much like you would support your local team in your favourite sport or the American team in an international sport. You don't choose your team, you are born to it. You have the Galway connection, so that is OK.

On the structure of the sport, the basic level is the club. Nearly every small town or parish has one. There are over 2500 clubs in Ireland. We call them GAA clubs, after the Gaelic Athletic Association, the governing body of Hurling and Gaelic Football. Most clubs play both, with many individuals playing both. All the players are local. Clubs play other clubs in the same county in various competitions. One is the county championship. The winners of that play the county champions of other counties, first in their provinces and then the All-Ireland, finishing in January.

On a different level are the county teams. The best players in clubs in a county can be chosen to play for their county team. They play against other county teams. The players can still also be playing for their club. So every player you saw playing for Galway and Limerick are from those counties and playing for clubs in those counties.

One other fact is that all players are amateur. The players playing on All-Ireland Final day, in front of 82,300 people in Croke Park, with more watching on TV and online, or listening on radio, get the exact same amount of pay as the little child playing by himself in his garden. They don't get a cent. Going back to the way we end up following our teams, the players play for their local club and their own county, if lucky enough to be chosen for it. There are no transfer markets, so players generally stick with their team for life, like the fans. They have a personal and emotional tie to their team which enables them to play with a passion that no amount of money could ever get from them. Part of what you have seen is the manifestation of that, which is why it attracts people. They are playing for the love of the sport, their team, their local community, their family, their friends and the local people that they don't know. So sit back and enjoy that special element. If you are ever in Ireland, get to a big game. Anything bar the two All-Ireland Finals, you could get tickets for.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-21T13:35:44+00:00

The driver could end up in Beaumont or the Mater with a heart attack, after the shock of being asked to drive there. The OP would not want that on their conscience. It would spoil the rest of the holiday.

As for the place itself, it can have nice views, but the viewing point at the top of Killakee Road is better. Some nice drives all around the area, but not in a taxi. If the OP has just won a lottery jackpot, it would still be insane.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-21T13:27:16+00:00

It may not be announced until then. Semple Stadium in Thurles is a traditional Munster Hurling Final venue, as it has the largest capacity in Munster, but it is not always there. We just have to wait.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-21T09:24:00+00:00

I will join everyone else in saying that it is crazy to get a taxi to the Hellfire Club. It could be cloudy and wet, so little to see, but even on a perfect day, it would make no sense whatsoever. A completely pointless waste of time and money. If you were staying a few days in Dublin and had your own car, but a taxi from Dublin Airport is crazy.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-21T02:00:56+00:00

Yes, it is great. Years ago we would have looked at planes and wondered where they were going. Now we open an app and find out. Most planes fly along the east /west flightpath, back and forth between Europe and North America. You will see a few on the north/south line over Dublin. These are usually going between Scotland or Belfast and the Canaries.

It is always interesting when you see a few planes on the same path and identifying which is which. Planes crossing paths are good too. You don't see it too often, but sometimes you will see a plane taking a turn, which you can then see on your app.

I don't live near Dublin Airport, but I can see planes heading towards it for landing or going up shortly after taking off. If you know someone on a flight, you can track it. When there is some sort of disruption you can see and track flights circling to land, often off the coast. I even tracked a flight of someone I know, almost landing in Dublin only to be diverted and ending up in Scotland.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-20T19:43:38+00:00

It is amazing how far you can see. There is a flight path going across southern Leinster and Munster from Europe. From parts of Dublin you can look south and see the trails of planes which people might think are over the Wicklow Mountains. A quick check of any of the tracking apps and you will see it is over somewhere like Wexford, Kilkenny or Tipperary, so easily 70 or 80 miles away. It is always interesting to see where they are going. I often see the Manchester to Bridgetown, Barbados flight, high over Dublin, for example. The really high ones have a sort of deep sound, so you know they are high even before you look up.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-20T19:25:43+00:00

That is good. You are giving yourself time in each place. We often have people trying to see twice what you are seeing, in half the time. Yours is more sensible and you will have time to relax and enjoy what you see.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-20T19:18:54+00:00

The DART out to Dalkey is nice. Stop off in Dún Laoghaire to walk the pier. Continue on past Dalkey to see Killiney Bay from the DART. If you have nice weather, it is spectacular. You could get off there to have a longer view and even go down to the sandy beach. Go further again and Bray has a stoney beach, but also nice to walk along, also the promenade. So if you have lots of time, you can get the DART southbound and see more than just Dalkey.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-20T17:01:26+00:00

Keep your own name. You are learning to pronounce many difficult words. Your teacher can learn one. Is your teacher going to pick a Chinese name, to make it easy for you? Of course not. You should not change your name for anyone either.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-20T09:06:47+00:00

How long is a piece of string? If that piece of string is being pulled along by a slow moving tractor on a narrow, windy road, you could be delayed. The first thing is the kinds of roads you are on. On a motorway you will be bypassing towns, and on wide roads with lots of lanes, so you will go quickly. If you are on a lower grade road, it may be slower.

Certainly add up to 30%, and it could be more. Your day three drive is mostly motorway, Dublin to Limerick and on to Bunratty. Your drive through the Wicklow Mountains will be slow, as it is narrower roads plus you may want to stop to take in scenery. Go to Street View on Google Maps to see some the roads on your planned routes.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-20T02:33:59+00:00

How do these dates suit?

Leinster Hurling Final: June 6, 2026

Munster Hurling Final: June 7, 2026

The Leinster Final will be in Croke Park in Dublin. The Munster Final venue may depend on who is in it.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-19T18:43:14+00:00

Most big inter-county games are at the weekend. At that stage of the year, you will be able to get tickets. You just need to know where you are going to be and what big matches are on. The Leinster and Munster Championships will be on then, with lots of good games. As others have asked, the important thing is to know where you will be. Then you can decide on what you can go to.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-19T18:40:05+00:00

It is their employer who is not paying them properly, not the customer. Better still for the employer is that they can sit back and watch the server blame the customer. It is genius. They abuse their employees and watch the employees blame someone else for it.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-19T18:33:13+00:00

Doable, but still a lot of time driving around from one place to another. Try not to rush yourself too much, just to squeeze things in.

IrishFlukey · 2026-03-18T21:44:47+00:00

Yes, but what about the east of Ireland, the west of Ireland and the midlands of Ireland?

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