Gaelic Grounds hotels in Limerick, Ireland

The Limerick GAA Gaelic Grounds is a stadium for amateur sports in Limerick, both football and hurling, located on Ennis Road - a 10-minute drive or half-hour walk from Limerick city. There are lots of accommodation options in the area to cater for sporting activities - mostly budget hotels and B&Bs, as well as conferencing and leisure facilities. Limerick has a rich sporting history and several favourite players were born there, such as GAA footballer John Galvin. It was named European City of Sport in 2011, which has brought a sense of pride to the city and increased its sporting heritage.

The Gaelic Athletic Association

The GAA or Cumann Luthchleas Gael is Ireland’s largest volunteer-led community and sporting organisation, and well known around the world for its achievements in promoting amateur Gaelic sports such as football, handball, hurling, rounders, women’s football and camogie. It has been based at Croke Park in Dublin since 1908 and there are clubs located around Ireland in 32 counties.

History of Limerick’s Gaelic Grounds

The GAA Club is a large stadium established in 1926 which has seen several upgrades to improve its facilities. It was originally a 12 acre farm that was bought for sporting purposes and is now the largest capacity stadium in the mid-west of Ireland. Home to the GAA teams for football and hurling in Limerick it is worth a visit for a fun atmosphere and to get a sense of the Irish people’s love of their sporting personalities.

In 2004, it had its largest upgrade with a new 12,000 capacity stand and two new terraces, and has since had a new floodlight facility, ticket office and dressing rooms. It can now seat up to 49,500 visitors although it’s done much more unofficially (the gates were broken down in 1961 and 10,000 spectators piled in to see the Munster hurling final between Cork and Tipperary). Thankfully security and ticketing procedures are a bit tighter these days although there’s still plenty of atmosphere on match days. If you’re into sport it’s a must visit when you come to Limerick.

Adventure Sports Breaks in Limerick County

Limerick city is high on the sporting agenda and has several stadiums, parks and training grounds for rugby, golf, football, horse racing and greyhound racing. Check out Thomond Park for rugby, Limerick Races at Greenmount Park, and the Delta Dome for soccer. Limerick is a great city for exploring on foot, with various guided tours and off-track walking trails around the river into the countryside of neighbouring counties as well as green areas like People’s Park and Arthur’s Quay Park. You can also do water sports, mountain biking, paintballing and go-karting.

The adventure sports hotels (three and four star) in Limerick are clustered around Ennis Road close to the GAA stadium, Castletroy Golf Club, Castleconnell and Adare, with its championship golf club and five star hotel. They will be up on the latest matches and may sell tickets as well as offering additional leisure facilities like mountain biking and maps for hiking trails. You will find budget accommodation in the student villages slightly out of the city centre, which also have sporting grounds available for use and plenty of green parks nearby.