Pearse Stadium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Location |
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| Area: | Salthill |
| County: | Galway |
| Country: | Republic of Ireland |
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Facility Statistics |
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| Broke Ground: | |
| Opened | June 16th, 1957 |
| Renovated | |
| Surface : | Grass |
| Owner: | Galway GAA |
| Original Construction Cost: | |
| Reconstruction Cost: | |
| Architect: | |
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Seating Capacity |
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| Capacity: | 34,000 |
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Dimensions |
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| Dimensions: | |
Pearse Stadium (Irish: Páirc an Phiarsaigh) is the principal Gaelic Athletic Association stadium in Galway, Ireland. The stadium opened on June 16th, 1957 as 16,000 people came to watch Galway beat Tipperary in hurling, and Kerry in football, and to watch Bishop Michael Browne bless the facility.
The stadium was opened by GAA President, Séamus McFerran. Among those invited were the 12 surviving members of the 1923 all-Ireland winning hurling team.
The area on which the £34,000 stadium was built was known locally as The Boggers. The 17-acre site was offered to the Gaelic Athletic Association by the town secretary Sean Gillan, and terms of purchase were negotiated. Much of the land was very wet and boggy. They were deepening the Corrib at the time, so the infill from the river was used to fill in parts of the pitch and give it an elevated sideline.
Pearse Stadium has hosted many great games and spectacles since, but it fell into disuse in the early nineties. The Stadium was renovated in 2002 and reopened in May 2003.
In 2006 Pearse Stadium has hosted one of the International Rules Football Series tests between Ireland and Australia. The match was held on October 28th before a full house attendence of 34,000, the match was won by Ireland by 1.12.6 (48) to Australia's 1.9.7 (40).
[edit] External links
- Virtual Tour Virtual Tour of Pearse Stadium from centre of the pitch.
