- Casement Park
Infobox GAA ground
English name = Casement Park
Irish name = Páirc Mhic Asmaint
Area = Belfast
County = County Antrim
Country = Northern Ireland
Broke Ground =
Opened = 1953
Renovated = 2000
county = Antrim GAA
Construction cost =
Reconstruction cost =
Architect name =
Capacity = 32,000
Size =Casement Park ( _ga. Páirc Mhic Asmaint) is the principal
Gaelic Athletic Association stadium inBelfast ,Northern Ireland , home to the Antrim football andhurling teams. Named after one of the participants of the 1916 Easter Rising, SirRoger Casement , the ground has a capacity of 32,000.Casement Park opened for the first time in June 1953, with Armagh Harps defeating St John’s of Antrim in the final of the inaugural
Ulster Senior Club Football Championship . [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=If you don't like the football, there's always Celtic under the stand! |work=Gaelic Life |publisher= |date=2008-05-16 |accessdate=2008-05-17 ] The newly opened Casement Park hosted the Ulster Championship final less than a month later, which saw Armagh overcome reigning All-Ireland champions Cavan.In all, Casement Park has hosted eight Ulster football finals. However, the Antrim ground has not held the provincial show piece since 1971, with
St. Tiernach's Park inClones hosting the final until 2004 and it was moved toCroke Park the following year. A major facelift of the stadium took place in 2000, a move which saw more championship games played at Casement Park. In 2006, floodlights were added which now enable hurling and football to be played in the evening.2007 Championship
On 2 June, 2007, the ground was set to be used for an Antrim inter-county double header, with the hurlers competing in the Ulster hurling final against Down, and the footballers competing in the
Ulster Senior Football Championship opener against Derry.However, while the hurling match was played, and completed, the football match could not take place because of dreadful weather. Pools of water had waterlogged the pitch, and the referee called off the game for player safety worries twenty minutes before the match was scheduled to start. The fixture was postponed until the following Sunday, but admission was free to encourage supporters of the teams to watch the match. [http://www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=78356]
References
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