Irish Theatre

Chicago Gaelic Park Players are very excited and proud to announce that we will be hosting the Acting Irish International Theatre Festival 2013. This annual event that alternates between a Canadian, Ireland and U.S. host city every year, celebrates the traditions of the Irish stage as Irish community theatre groups present the best in Irish drama and comedy, both classic and contemporary.

Schedule and details to follow

Gaelic Athletic Association Football Match

Come learn about the GAA at the GAA tent….you will also get a chance to see the GAA games in action, Learn about Hurling, the Irish sport known as “The Fastest Game on Grass” at our information booth located at the GAA tent!!!! When Michael Cusack moved to Dublin, in 1877, to open his academy preparing Irish students for the Civil Service examinations, sport throughout Ireland was the preserve of the middle and ascended classes. Within Cusack’s academy sport was central with students who were encouraged to participate in rugby, cricket, rowing and weight-throwing. In the early 1880’s Cusack turned his attentions to indigenous Irish sports. In 1882 he attended the first meeting of the Dublin Hurling Club, formed ‘for the purpose of taking steps to re-establish the national game of hurling’. The weekly games of hurling, in the Phoenix Park, became so popular that, in 1883, Cusack had sufficient numbers to found ‘Cusack’s Academy Hurling Club’ which, in turn, led to the establishment of the Metropolitan Hurling Club.

Gaelic Football is a field game which has developed as a distinct game similar to the progression of Australian Rules. Gaelic Football is played on a pitch up to 145m long and 90m wide. The goalposts are the same shape as on a rugby pitch, with the crossbar lower than a rugby one and slightly higher than a soccer one. The ball used in Gaelic Football is round, slightly smaller than a soccer ball. It can be carried in the hand for a distance of four steps and can be kicked or “hand-passed”, a striking motion with the hand or fist. After every four steps the ball must be either bounced or “solo-ed”, an action of dropping the ball onto the foot and kicking it back into the hand. You may not bounce the ball twice in a row. To score, you put the ball over the crossbar by foot or hand / fist for one point or under the crossbar and into the net by foot or the hand / fist in certain circumstances for a goal, the latter being the equivalent of three points. Each team consists of 15 players.

Irish Bred Conemara Ponies

About The Pony

The Connemara region in County Galway in western Ireland, where the breed first became recognized as a distinct type, is a very harsh landscape, thus giving rise to a pony breed of hardy, strong individuals. Some believe that the Connemara developed from Scandinavian ponies that the Vikings first brought to Ireland. Another source was likely the Irish Hobby, a now-extinct breed established prior to the 13th century. Legend, however, says that galleons from the Spanish Armada ran aground in 1588, and the Andalusians on board were set loose. The Spanish horses bred with the native stock, refining the local ponies.

The adult Connemara pony is usually 128 to 148 cm in height, with a strong back, loins and hind quarters, deep and broad through the ribs, and with a riding-type well laid-back shoulder and well-placed neck without undue crest, giving a good length of rein. The head should be of pony type, broad between the eyes, which should be large and appear kind, and with a deep but refined jaw and clearly defined cheekbone. The ears should be of pony type (relatively short). The legs should be relatively short from the knees and hocks to the ground, with a strong, muscular upper leg, strong and well-defined knees.