Editing Ireland (section)

====Field sports====
{{Main|Gaelic games|Rugby union in Ireland|Rugby league in Ireland|Association football in the Republic of Ireland|Association football in Northern Ireland}}
[[File:Tyrone Blanket Defence.jpg|thumb|[[Tyrone GAA|Tyrone]] v [[Kerry GAA|Kerry]] in the [[2005 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final]]]]
Gaelic football, hurling and Gaelic handball are the best-known Irish traditional sports, collectively known as Gaelic games. Gaelic games are governed by the [[Gaelic Athletic Association]] (GAA), with the exception of women's Gaelic football and camogie (women's variant of hurling), which are governed by separate organisations. The headquarters of the GAA (and the main stadium) is located at<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crokepark.ie/ |title=Croke Park. Not just a venue. A destination |publisher=Croke Park Stadium / Gaelic Athletic Association |access-date=3 October 2007 |archive-date=1 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001182803/http://www.crokepark.ie/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Croke Park]] in north Dublin and has a capacity of 82,500. Many major GAA games are played there, including the semi-finals and finals of the [[All-Ireland Senior Football Championship]] and [[All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship]]. During the redevelopment of the [[Lansdowne Road|Lansdowne Road stadium]] in 2007–2010, international rugby and soccer were played there.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/05/AR2007020501459.html |title=For First Time, Croke Park Is Ireland's Common Ground |date=6 February 2007 |access-date=14 August 2008 |newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Michael |last=Moynihan |archive-date=11 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111193225/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/05/AR2007020501459.html |url-status=live }}</ref> All GAA players, even at the highest level, are amateurs, receiving no wages, although they are permitted to receive a limited amount of sport-related income from commercial sponsorship.

The [[Irish Football Association]] (IFA) was originally the governing body for soccer across the island. The game has been played in an organised fashion in Ireland since the 1870s, with [[Cliftonville F.C.]] in Belfast being Ireland's oldest club. It was most popular, especially in its first decades, around Belfast and in Ulster. However, some clubs based outside Belfast thought that the IFA largely favoured Ulster-based clubs in such matters as selection for the national team. In 1921, following an incident in which, despite an earlier promise, the IFA moved an [[Irish Cup]] semi-final replay from Dublin to Belfast,<ref>{{cite web |title=FAI History: 1921–1930 |publisher=Football Association of Ireland |date=5 June 2009 |url=http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=222&Itemid=226 |access-date=30 December 2009 |archive-date=2 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002021806/http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=222&Itemid=226 |url-status=live }}</ref> Dublin-based clubs broke away to form the Football Association of the Irish Free State. Today the southern association is known as the [[Football Association of Ireland]] (FAI). Despite being initially blacklisted by the [[Home Nations]]' associations, the FAI was recognised by [[FIFA]] in 1923 and organised its first international fixture in 1926 (against [[Italy national football team|Italy]]). However, both the IFA and FAI continued to select their teams from the whole of Ireland, with some players earning international caps for matches with both teams. Both also referred to their respective teams as ''Ireland''.

[[File:Paul O'Connell Ireland Rugby.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Paul O'Connell]] reaching for the ball during a [[Line-out (rugby union)|line out]] against [[Argentina national rugby union team|Argentina]] in 2007]]
In 1950, FIFA directed the associations only to select players from within their respective territories and, in 1953, directed that the FAI's team be known only as "Republic of Ireland" and that the IFA's team be known as "Northern Ireland" (with certain exceptions). Northern Ireland qualified for the [[FIFA World Cup|World Cup]] finals in [[1958 FIFA World Cup|1958]] (reaching the quarter-finals), [[1982 FIFA World Cup|1982]] and [[1986 FIFA World Cup|1986]] and the [[UEFA European Championship|European Championship]] in [[UEFA Euro 2016|2016]]. The Republic qualified for the World Cup finals in [[1990 FIFA World Cup|1990]] (reaching the quarter-finals), [[1994 FIFA World Cup|1994]], [[2002 FIFA World Cup|2002]] and the European Championship in [[UEFA Euro 1988|1988]], [[UEFA Euro 2012|2012]] and 2016. Across Ireland, there is significant interest in the [[Premier League|English]] and, to a lesser extent, [[Scottish Premier League|Scottish]] soccer leagues.

Ireland fields a single [[Ireland national rugby union team|national rugby team]] and a single association, the [[Irish Rugby Football Union]], governs the sport across the island. The Irish rugby team have played in every [[Rugby World Cup]], making the quarter-finals in eight of them.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/oct/14/ireland-new-zealand-rugby-world-cup-quarter-final-match-report |title=New Zealand hold off Ireland in titanic battle to reach World Cup semi-finals |last=Aylwin |first=Michael|date=14 October 2023 |website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=25 January 2024 |quote= let the record state: eight quarter-finals, eight defeats.}}</ref> Ireland also hosted games during the [[1991 Rugby World Cup|1991]] and the [[1999 Rugby World Cup]]s (including a quarter-final). There are four professional Irish teams; all four play in the [[Pro14]] and at least three compete for the [[Heineken Cup]]. Irish rugby has become increasingly competitive at both the international and provincial levels since the sport went professional in 1994. During that time, [[Ulster Rugby|Ulster]] ([[1998–99 Heineken Cup|1999]]),<ref name="heineken champions archive">{{cite web |url=http://archive.ercrugby.com/heinekencup/champions.php |title=Champions of Europe |publisher=European Club Rugby |website=ERCRugby.com |date=2014 |access-date=4 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006080223/http://archive.ercrugby.com/heinekencup/champions.php |archive-date=6 October 2014 }}</ref> [[Munster Rugby|Munster]] ([[2005–06 Heineken Cup|2006]]<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/european/4998452.stm |title=Munster 23–19 Biarritz |publisher=BBC News |date=20 May 2006 |access-date=13 October 2011 |archive-date=24 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024121442/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/european/4998452.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[2007–08 Heineken Cup|2008]])<ref name="heineken champions archive"/> and [[Leinster Rugby|Leinster]] ([[2008–09 Heineken Cup|2009]], [[2010–11 Heineken Cup|2011]] and [[2011–12 Heineken Cup|2012]])<ref name="heineken champions archive"/> have won the Heineken Cup. In addition to this, the Irish International side has had increased success in the [[Six Nations Championship]] against the other European elite sides. This success, including [[Triple Crown (rugby union)|Triple Crowns]] in 2004, 2006 and 2007, culminated with a clean sweep of victories, known as a [[Grand Slam (rugby union)|Grand Slam]], in 2009 and 2018.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/17274833 |title=Six Nations roll of honour |publisher=BBC News |date=2014 |access-date=28 May 2014 |archive-date=8 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151108101422/http://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/17274833 |url-status=live }}</ref>