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US men’s national rugby team The Eagles gear up to host Irish national rugby team in Texas

Ireland’s rugby team is set to face off against the American rugby team The Eagles this June in Houston, TX. This will be the third time the two teams have met. FULL STORY >

Andy Lee makes quick work of Darryl Cunningham in Times Square fight

Andy Lee (30-2, 21 KOs) notched up the 30th victory of his professional career with a clinical first round TKO victory over Darryl Cunningham (28-5, 11 KOs) at BB King in Times Square last Wednesday. FULL STORY >

Sports Digest: Celtic ready for end of season wrap

Celtic wrapped up their Scottish League season in style with a four goal drubbing of Dundee United at Parkhead on Sunday, then turned their attentions to next weekend’s cup final date with Pat Fenlon’s Hibs at Hampden Park. FULL STORY >

Rugby Digest: Les Kiss will helm Irish rugby team’s summer tour including US and Canada

Joe Schmidt has asked interim Ireland coach Les Kiss to stay on board as part of the national team’s new management set-up after they work together on the American and Canadian tour this summer. FULL STORY >

Sports Digest GAA: Cavan shocks with victory over Armagh

Cavan finally reaped the rewards of their recent success at under-21 level when their senior team dumped Armagh out of the Ulster Championship with a shock 1-15 to 1-11 win in Breffni Park on Sunday. FULL STORY >

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Irish sport is popular and widespread. Levels of participation and spectating are high on the island of Ireland. Throughout the country a wide variety of Irish sports are played, the most popular being Gaelic games (such as Gaelic football, hurling and camogie), soccer, rugby union and boxing. By attendance figures Gaelic football and hurling are by far the most popular sports in Ireland, (34% of total attendances at sports events being to football and 23% to hurling), while golf and soccer (including 5-a-side) are the most played at 17% of the population each. Many Irish sports, such as boxing, cricket, rugby union, Gaelic football and hurling, are organized in an all-island basis, with a single team representing Ireland in international competitions. Other Irish sports, such as Association Football, have separate organizing bodies in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. At the Olympics, a person from Northern Ireland can choose to represent either Ireland or Great Britain. The various GAA discipline finals are easily the largest sporting events regularly held in Ireland, in both terms of attendance and media coverage. The biggest national sporting event in Ireland is the final of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, held annually in Croke Park in September. It usually attracts a sell out crowd of 82,500 to Croke Park. Many of the matches in the championship attract crowds of 50,000, depending on who is playing. Aside from the GAA, the biggest multi-sport event held in Ireland regularly is the Community Games. The games are organized every year from a local level, where hundreds of thousands of young people compete in different disciplines such as athletics, swimming, cycling etc., in the first half of the year. Winners progress to county level, and then to the Community Games finals. One of the biggest international Irish sport events is international Association Football. The Republic's national team has punched above its weight in recent years, qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, and performed well against such teams as Brazil and Portugal. In rugby union, Ireland's national team has been ranked in the top five teams regularly over the last few years, and has produced major stars such as Keith Wood and Brian O'Driscoll. In golf, Ireland is home to several top golfers such as Padraig Harrington.

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