Gaelic Athletic Association county

Counties contesting the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (yellow), All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (blue), or both (green); however almost all counties contest both the National Football League and the National Hurling League

A Gaelic Athletic Association county is a geographic region within the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), controlled by a county board and originally based on the 32 counties of Ireland as they were in 1884. While the administrative geography of Ireland has since changed, with several new counties created and the six that make up Northern Ireland superseded by 11 local government districts, the GAA counties have remained largely unchanged.

However, the GAA county does not always and everywhere cover precisely the same territory as the traditional county. Particularly in the first 50 years of the Association but also in more recent times, there are many examples of clubs based in one of the administrative counties being allowed to participate in the leagues or championships of a neighbouring county. There are also instances where the official county boundary does not coincide precisely with the GAA county, for example where a club is based on a parish that crosses the county border. While in most cases the name of the GAA county is the same as that of the current or former administrative county, there have been exceptions: Derry has never used the official county name of Londonderry, and the Board of the county then officially known as Queen's County changed its name in 1907 to Leix and Ossary, later becoming Laois. Each county board is responsible for organising GAA club fixtures within the county, and for the promotion and development of Gaelic games and the other objectives of the Association.

The GAA county can also refer to the inter-county teams fielded by each county board. While in general any GAA county, and only a county, is eligible to compete in the provincial and national championships and leagues, and almost all do so, again there can be anomalies: in the National Hurling League, for example, a team representing Fingal - a sub-region of the GAA county of Dublin, corresponding to the modern administrative county of Fingal - competes against GAA counties.

Since the inception of the county system, there have been changes to the respective regions of control of the overseas units. In Ireland the concept of the county is very strong and changing the county boundary is extremely controversial. In 2002 a proposal to divide Dublin in two was quickly and strongly opposed.[1]

County teams

Coat of
Arms		 County Irish name[2] Province GAA Flag Colours

The 32 "traditional" counties

Antrim Aontroim
(Contae Aontroma)		 Ulster
Armagh Ard Mhacha
(Contae Ard Mhacha)		 Ulster
Carlow Ceatharlach
(Contae Cheatharlach)		 Leinster
Cavan An Cabhán
(Contae an Chabháin)		 Ulster
Clare An Clár
(Contae an Chláir)		 Munster
Cork Corcaigh
(Contae Chorcaí)		 Munster
Derry[3] Doire
(Contae Dhoire)		 Ulster
Donegal Dún na nGall
(Contae Dhún na nGall)		 Ulster
Down An Dún
(Contae an Dúin)		 Ulster
Dublin Áth Cliath
(Contae Átha Cliath)		 Leinster
Fermanagh Fear Manach
(Contae Fhear Manach)		 Ulster
Galway Gaillimh
(Contae na Gaillimhe)		 Connacht  
Kerry Ciarraí
(Contae Chiarraí)		 Munster
Kildare Cill Dara
(Contae Chill Dara)		 Leinster
Kilkenny Cill Chainnigh
(Contae Chill Chainnigh)		 Leinster
Laois Laois
(Contae Laoise)		 Leinster
Leitrim Liatroim
(Contae Liatroma)		 Connacht
Limerick Luimneach
(Contae Luimnigh)		 Munster
Longford An Longfort
(Contae an Longfoirt)		 Leinster
Louth Lú
(Contae Lú)		 Leinster
Mayo Maigh Eo
(Contae Mhaigh Eo)		 Connacht
Meath An Mhí
(Contae na Mí)		 Leinster
Monaghan Muineachán
(Contae Mhuineacháin)		 Ulster
Offaly Uíbh Fhailí
(Contae Uíbh Fhailí)		 Leinster
Roscommon Ros Comáin
(Contae Ros Comáin)		 Connacht
Sligo Sligeach
(Contae Shligigh)		 Connacht
Tipperary Tiobraid Árann
(Contae Thiobraid Árann)		 Munster
Tyrone Tír Eoghain
(Contae Thír Eoghain)		 Ulster
Waterford Port Láirge
(Contae Phort Láirge)		 Munster
Westmeath An Iarmhí
(Contae na hIarmhí)		 Leinster
Wexford Loch Garman
(Contae Loch Garman)		 Leinster
Wicklow Cill Mhantáin
(Contae Chill Mhantáin)		 Leinster

Gaelic Athletic Association 'counties' overseas

Gaelic Athletic Association counties outside Ireland cover large geographic non-traditional areas which are not considered as counties in any other context. For example, Scotland is a county for GAA purposes, as is London, while the remaining counties of Great Britain cover wider areas than their names suggest. The Hertfordshire County Board, for example, oversees clubs in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire; Gloucestershire GAA reaches into South Wales, Warwickshire GAA includes Staffordshire and Birmingham, and so on.[4] There are also 'county boards' for Australasia, Canada, New York, the rest of North America, Europe and Asia, while other overseas GAA regions such as the Cayman Islands operate with their own structures not including county boards.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Whelan slams Dublin split". BBC News. 2002-01-27. Retrieved 2006-12-22.
  2. ↑ Gasaitéar na hÉireann / Gazetteer of Ireland. Dublin: Brainse Logainmneacha na Suirbhéireachta Ordanáis / Placenames Branch of the Ordnance Survey. 1989. ISBN 978-0-7076-0076-5.
  3. ↑ Derry is often called Londonderry – see Derry-Londonderry name dispute, although the GAA county is always Derry
  4. ↑ Gaelic Athletic Association, International GAA County Boards: Retrieved http://www.gaa.ie/about-the-gaa/gaa-overseas/
  5. ↑ GAA Overseas Units official booklet
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