Leagues and Team Structure
All Gaelic sports are amateur.
The basic unit of each game is organised at the club level, which is usually arranged on a parish basis, with various local clubs playing to win the County Championship at various levels:
- Senior: the better adult clubs
- Junior: weaker adult clubs, from small communities
- Under-21
- Minor: under-18
- Underage: all ages from under-16 down to under-9
On a national level, the team is organised on the old Irish county system, producing 34 teams representing the original 32 counties that cover Ireland, plus two teams representing the Irish communities in London and New York. There are also clubs in other parts of Britain, Asia, Australia, continental Europe and Canada.
Though Ireland was partitioned into two states in 1920, Gaelic sports continue to be organised on an all-island basis. A team of 15 players plus substitutes is formed from the best players playing at parish level. All counties play against each other in a knockout tournament known as the All Ireland Championship. These knockout games are organised on the four Irish provinces of Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht. In the past, the best team from each would play one of the others, at a stage known as the All-Ireland semi-finals, with the winning team from each game playing each other in the All-Ireland Final. A recent re-organisation now provides a 'back door' method of qualifying, with knocked out teams getting another chance to win back into the competition.
County teams also compete in the National Football League (Ireland), held every spring. In this, the 32 teams are split into 4 divisions, 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B. The top two teams in 2A and 2B go into the Division 2 semi-finals and are promoted to Division 1 for next season. The top two teams in 1A and 1B go into the Division 1 semi-finals to compete for the League title. The League is not as prestigious as the All-Ireland, but in recent years attendances have grown and interest, from the public and from players, have grown. This is due in part to the organisation of the league into the above format, the provision of the Division 2 final stages and the relatively new change of starting the league in February rather than November. Live matches are shown on the Irish-language TV station TG4, with highlights shown on RTE2.
