St Brendan's Park

St Brendan's Park
Páirc Naoimh Breandáin
St Brendan's Park is located in Ireland
St Brendan's Park
St Brendan's Park
Location within Ireland
LocationBirr, County Offaly, Ireland
Coordinates53°5′29.14″N 7°54′31.01″W / 53.0914278°N 7.9086139°W / 53.0914278; -7.9086139
Public transitEmmet Square bus stop
OwnerOffaly GAA
Capacity8,800[1]
SurfaceGrass

St Brendan's Park (Irish: Páirc Naoimh Breandáin), known for sponsorship reasons as Grant Heating St. Brendan's Park,[2] is a GAA stadium in Birr, County Offaly, Ireland. It is one of the main grounds of Offaly's Gaelic football and hurling teams. The ground has a capacity of 8,800. Prior to the development of O'Connor Park in Tullamore, the ground was the base of Offaly hurling and played host to intercounty competitions and to the Offaly hurling county final. Most Offaly games have since transferred to Tullamore.[3] The stadium is named for the local patron saint Brendan of Birr (d. c. AD 572), not to be confused with the more famous Brendan the Navigator (d. c. AD 577).[4]

Saint Brendan's Park is the home ground of the town’s GAA club. It is located on the south side of the town on Railway Road.[5]

The site was also the venue of the 1971 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship semi-final between Tipperary and Galway. 15,022 crammed into the venue to watch Tipperary see off Galway in a high scoring match.[6] St Brendan's Park is also located close to the site of the venue of the first All- Ireland Hurling Final which was between Thurles representing Tipperary and Meelick representing Galway in 1887.[7]

  1. ^ "St Brendan's Park in Birr can host crowds of 8,800". Offaly Express. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Grant announces agreement with Birr GAA for naming rights of St. Brendan's Park". Grant IRL. 5 December 2023.
  3. ^ Bellew, Ronnie; Crowe, Dermot (6 November 2014). Hell for Leather: A Journey Through Hurling in 100 Games. ISBN 9781444789928.
  4. ^ Kelleher, H. (2023). A Place to Play: The People and Stories Behind 101 GAA Grounds. (n.p.): Irish Academic Press.
  5. ^ GAA Club Committee (2020). "Grounds Location Information".
  6. ^ "Hurling Tipperary 3-26 Galway 6-08". RTÉ.ie.
  7. ^ "Home Page".