DID YOU KNOW - 19/12/2006
The GAA was formed in 1884 in Hayes Hotel Thurles Co Tipperary......
When Cavan defeated Meath in the 1952 all Ireland final Des and Liam Maguire played on the successful Cavan team while their younger brother Brendan was midfield on the losing Meath team........
Up to 1892 a goal outweighed any number of points and teams consisted of 21 players.............
Kerrys first all Ireland senior title was in hurling (1891).......
The first player to be sent off in an all Ireland football final was Joe Stafford of Cavan in 1943........
From 1892 a goal was equal to 5 points and was reduced to its present status in 1896.....
Peter Mc Dermott refereed the 1953 all Ireland final and captained Meath to victory in 1954.......
Oisin Mc Conville holds the record for the highest score in an Ulster Senior football final with 2-7 against Down in the 1999 decider.......
Cavan appeared in 33 of the 35 Ulster finals played between 1922 and 1956.......
From 1892 teams were reduced to 17 a side and from 1913 reduced to 15..........
Players first wore jersey numbers in the 1923 all Ireland hurling semi-final.........
The highest ever attendance at an all Ireland football final was 90,556 in 1961..... Down v Offaly.......
Though still only 25 years old the Mc Entee twins have amassed an aggregate total of 33 County football final appearances in adult competition.......
In the early years counties were represented in the all Ireland series by their club champions.......
In the first alI Ireland football final Limerick Commercials defeated Dundalk Young Irelands..........
Armaghs first appearance in Croke Park was in the replayed Ulster final of 1939 v Cavan. The first game, played in Castleblayney was abandoned due to a pitch invasion........
The only footballer to win all Ireland medals in a 60 minute final, a 70 minute final and an 80 minute final was Brendan Lynch of Kerry.......
When Dublin played Galway in the 1942 all Ireland football final 3 of the 4 midfielders were natives of Dingle County Kerry.......
The top Ulster scorer in championship football is Paddy Doherty of Down who scored 15 goals and 159 points during his career.......
The old Sam Maguire cup was first played for in 1928 and the first recipient was Bill Gannon the Kildare Captain.........
The Hogan stand was named after Michael Hogan a Tipperary footballer who was shot dead on bloody Sunday 1920 when British Troops opened fire in Croke Park during a Tipperary v Dublin game. Twelve spectators were also killed...........
Prior to 1966 the lower deck of the Cusack stand was standing only. When that area was seated the capacity of the Stadium was reduced to 75,000.......
Five Delaney brothers played for Laois in the 1936 football final when they were defeated by Mayo. Their uncle Tom was in goals......
In the early years "point posts" were located either side of the goals for point scoring. These were abolished in 1910.........
Former an Taoiseach Jack Lynch won six all Ireland medals in a row from 1941 to 1946. Five in hurling and one in football..........
On 17th March 1962 Des Foley of Dublin and Leinster became the only player to win Railway cup medals in hurling and football on the same day.......
Down played in 12 Ulster finals in a row from 1958 to 1969.......
Hill 16 was so named because the rubble from the aftermath of the 1916 rising was dumped there.........
When Kerry played Dublin on the opening of Cusack Park Mullingar in 1934 the ball was dropped from an Aeroplane for the "throw in".........
In the early years all the players from both teams, including the goalkeepers, lined up in the middle of the field for the "throw in"........
The first live televised games were the Railway Cup hurling and football finals on 17th March 1962.......
Dublin won the all Ireland football title in 1906 and 1907 with players from ten different counties but had none from Dublin itself......
Patsy Lynch of Cavan at 16 years of age was the youngest player ever to play in an all Ireland football final (1928)......
From 1910 the midfielders and forwards from each team lined up in centrefield for the"throw in" and from 1965 only the midfielders contested the "throw in"..........
All of the Tulla team representing Clare in the 1889 all Ireland hurling final played in their bare feet......
Jack Murphy had a great game for Kerry against Kildare in the 1926 all Ireland final which ended in a draw. He died of Pneumonia before the replay........
Martin O'Neill of Celtic played his last game of gaelic football in the all Ireland minor final of 1980... He missed a penalty and Derry lost to Kerry.......
The Cork and Kilkenny teams refused to play on the Ashtown pitch, when they arrived for the 1893 all Ireland hurling final, because of its poor condition. The players carried the goalposts to the Phoenix Park and played the final there.......
The first Radio broadcast was by Paddy Mehigan in the all Ireland hurling semi final between Kilkenny and Galway on 28th August 1926.......
The last player to captain a county to two all Ireland football titles in a row was Tony Hanahoe of Dublin in 1976 and 1977.......
Mick Doyle of Kerry had won four all Ireland senior football medals before his 21st birthday. (1929 to 1932).......
Down, Donegal and Derry all won all Ireland Football titles in the nineties and Tyrone appeared in an all Ireland final in 1995 but up to 1956 none of them had won an Ulster senior title.......
The GAA purchased Croke Park in 1913 for £3,500..........
The first Radio broadcast by Miceal O'Hehir was the 1938 all Ireland football semi-final between Galway and Monaghan.........