Pearse Stadium (Galway)

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Pearse Stadium (Irish: Páirc an Phiarsaigh) is the principal Gaelic Athletic Association stadium in Galway, Ireland. It is the home stadium for Galway GAA Gaelic football and hurling teams. Capacity is 26,197.

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 £34,0000 stadium was built was known locally as The Boggers. The 17-acre site was offered to the GAA 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.

www.galwaygaa.ie