The Gaelic Athletic Association’s 150th Anniversary shall be in 2034. Eirball is proposing a special “GAA World Championship” to run alongside the “All-Ireland Championship” with counties divided into 10 “Provinces” of 6 for the purposes of creating a balanced schedule. The idea of a GAA World Cup is nothing new – the St. Brendan’s Cup Finals between New York and the National League Champions took place in the 1950s and in the 1960s the World Championship Cup was played between New York and the All-Ireland Champions. Even back as far as 1900 the “Home Final” preceded the “All-Ireland Final” between London and the “Home Final” Champions. In the 1920s and 1930s the Tailteann Games included matches between Ireland and USA. More recently the expansion of the GAA globally and the reduced cost and time of air travel have meant both New York and London competing in the All-Ireland Championship and the establishment of two new Provincial Councils: Britain GAA and the GAA World Games.
All-Ireland Draw
| North Leinster | South Leinster | Munster | Connacht | Ulster |
| Dublin | Offaly | Cork | Galway | Derry |
| Kildare | Laois | Kerry | Mayo | Tyrone |
| Louth | Carlow | Limerick | Sligo | Fermanagh |
| Longford | Kilkenny | Clare | Roscommon | Armagh |
| Meath | Wicklow | Tipperary | Leitrim | Down |
| Westmeath | Wexford | Waterford | ^An Gaeltacht | Antrim |
All-World Draw
| England | Celtic | Americas | Orient | New / Republic |
| London | Scotland | New York | Australasia | Donegal |
| Warwickshire | +Wales | United States | Asia | Cavan |
| Hertfordshire | $Brittany | Canada | Europe | Monaghan |
| Gloucestershire | $Galicia | +Argentina | Middle East | & Fingal |
| Lancashire | *Isle of Man | +Caribbean | +Russia | & South Dublin |
| Yorkshire | *Cornwall | +Mexico | +Africa | & Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown |
Notes on Counties:
*These Celtic Nations, currently part of the United Kingdom play versions of Uncodified Hurling and Football.
$ These Celtic Nations, currently part of France and Spain, play Gaelic Football, just like it is played in Ireland, in villages and towns throughout Brittany and Galicia, and entirely by Natives of those Nations. They are currently part of Europe GAA but have played internationals, and competed separately in the GAA World Games.
+These Areas only currently have one GAA Club each and are in a stage of development.
& Fingal existed once upon a time to help develop GAA Hurling in non-traditional areas. There has long been call to split Dublin up, especially given the recent record All-Ireland winning run. Fingal, South Dublin and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown are three Official Admistrative Counties within Dublin County that exist alongside Dublin City Borough.
^An Gaeltacht is not an Official County, GAA or otherwise, but there is a Gaeltacht Football Championship each year.
References
Logos
Picture Credit: [1] Donegal Daily (2017) GAA Logo [Internet] Available from: http://www.donegaldaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/gaa-logo.png [Accessed 2 December 2017]
Bibliography
[2] GAA (2017) – “The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games – Full GAA Records from 1887 to 2017 Inclusive DBA Publications Limted, Dublin. Pg. 405
Websites
[3] GAA (2021) World GAA [Internet] Available from: https://www.gaa.ie/my-gaa/world-gaa/ [Accessed 18 May 2021]
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Tom Dunne
About this document
Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the
Eirball | Irish North American & World Sports Archive
Last Updated: 18 May 2021
(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2021
You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.
