{"id":799964,"date":"2026-07-14T15:35:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T15:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/799964\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T15:35:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T15:35:10","slug":"application-submitted-for-gaelic-football-to-be-recognised-by-unesco-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/799964\/","title":{"rendered":"Application submitted for Gaelic football to be recognised by Unesco \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The GAA and LGFA have submitted an application for the official recognition of Gaelic football by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/unesco\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/unesco\/\">Unesco<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">In 2018, hurling and camogie were added to Unesco\u2019s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and it is now hoped the big-ball code can receive the same recognition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The GAA\/LGFA submission will be adjudicated on by Unesco over the coming months, with a decision expected in 2027 \u2013 exactly 140 years since the first All-Ireland football championship.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The Peil work group behind the submission is comprised of Joe Kernan, Dr Hayley Kilgallon, Dr Will Murphy, Dr Tom Hunt, Lyn Savage, Charles Harrison, Jamie \u00d3 Tuama and Cian Murphy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The process of securing Unesco recognition requires the support of the Government through the Department of Culture, who oversaw the preparation of the submission.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The bid recognises the documented existence of forms of football being played in Ireland from the 1500s, through to the codification and popularisation of Gaelic football following the formation of the GAA in 1884 and the Ladies Gaelic Football Association in 1974, with the game now played in 2,000 clubs across both associations throughout Ireland, and in 500 clubs overseas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cGaelic games bind communities together like nothing else in Ireland and Gaelic football is not just a sport but, a way of life for people from Killarney to Kilcar and from Swords to Salthill and everywhere in between,\u201d said GAA president, Jarlath Burns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cLike hurling and camogie, these games are a part of who we are, and Gaelic games are a part of our DNA. Achieving Unesco status would grant international recognition of their cultural significance and greatly assist us in our efforts to grow our games at home and abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Trina Murray, LGFA president, added: \u201cThis is a landmark moment for Ladies Gaelic Football. Since 1974, we\u2019ve built a game that now stands proudly alongside the men\u2019s code, with thousands of women and girls lacing up every week from local pitches to Croke Park.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cUnesco recognition would place our sport on a global stage it has long deserved and send a clear message to the next generation that their game matters, is valued, and has a future without limits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cWe\u2019re proud to stand with the GAA in putting this submission forward, and we look forward to what the coming months will bring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Patrick O\u2019Donovan, Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport said: \u201cAs we saw with the recognition of hurling in 2018, Unesco\u2019s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity listing is a powerful statement of international recognition for the importance of our living culture to the world\u2019s shared heritage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cThe Government is happy to support the GAA and LGFA\u2019s application to secure Unesco status for men\u2019s and women\u2019s Gaelic football.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The GAA and LGFA have submitted an application for the official recognition of Gaelic football by Unesco. In&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":799965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,71481,85,53609],"class_list":["post-799964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-ladies-gaelic-football-association-lgfa","tag-sports","tag-unesco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}