Ireland is one of the top countries in Europe that constantly shows a large dedication towards sports. We often see numerous athletes from this country competing at the highest level in many major events. It’s safe to say that Ireland has a diverse sports scene.

But, sportspersons from this country usually focus on several top sports, some of them only popular in the featured country. In this article, we’ll reveal and briefly analyze the biggest sports in Ireland. 

We start off with Gaelic football, which is the most-watched sport in Ireland. It accounts for around 34% of the total sports attendance in the country. Around 3.4% of all residents participate in this sport, which puts it in second place, falling only behind football.

Gaelic football is one of the few remaining amateur sports on the planet. Here, managers, coaches, and players don’t receive any payments for competing.

But, this doesn’t mean that there is no money circulation around this sport. Gaelic football is also a popular betting sport in the country that generates a lot of wagers. As such, punters can often find the biggest events at reputable online bookies in Ireland.

Football

Next, we have football, the most popular sport in the world. In Ireland, it attracts 8.8% of all sports participants, putting it on top of the list. However, in terms of attendance, it's only behind Gaelic football and hurling. This sport accumulates 16% of the total sports spectators.

Ireland had its ups and downs in national football competitions. They qualified for three FIFA World Cups and three UEFA EURO Championships since 1988. It even produced some very good players in the past such as Robbie Keane, Shay Given, John O’Shea, Damien Duff, etc.

However, in terms of club competitions, Ireland’s first league isn’t among the best. It sits in the 32nd spot on the UEFA rankings. Also, an Irish team is yet to qualify for the Champions League group stage.

Rugby Union

According to a study conducted in 2023, Rugby Union is the country's number one sport accumulating 31% of all surveyed individuals. But, we must note that this study only took the opinions of around 1,000 people. Either way, we know for certain that this attracts 8% of all sports attendees in Ireland.

The sport greatly increases its viewership in the country after the national team's impressive performances in recent years. They managed to win the Grand Slams, Six Nations Championship, and Triple Crowns in 2023. At the moment, they sit in third place in the Men's World Rugby Rankings.

We must also note that there are currently around 95,000 active rugby players in Ireland. All of them compete in over 200 clubs in four different professional provinces. 

Horse Racing

In Ireland, horse racing is one of the most attended sports in the country. It attracts around 1.3 million attendees annually. That's around 25% of the entire population. This is actually the largest number of horse racing fans per capita in the world.

This country is the birthplace of some of the best racehorses in the world. So far, Ireland managed to produce nine thoroughbred racehorses with an undefeated race record.

It's worth pointing out that Irish jockeys and horses often dominate the best National Hunt events. Among them are the Grand National and the Cheltenham Festival. We must also mention the Irish Grand National, which is a respected horse racing event in Europe.

Hurling

Last but not least, we have hurling, another sport of ancient Gaelic Irish origin. It's part of the famous Gaelic Games alongside Gaelic Football, but it attracts a bit less attention. Hurling accumulates 23% of all sports spectators in the country.

Irish refer to it as the fastest sport in the world. This is due to the players’ constant high-speed throws, which makes it difficult for some to follow.

This highly popular sport features around 511,000 registered players in Ireland. The country even has 1,611 GAA clubs as well as a 74% participation rate among school students. It even attracts over 100,000 female players. But, they play a variant of the game called Camogie, which is very similar.