First ever official tour as GAA continues to grow in France
The Paris Gaels GAA team is coming to Dublin for a series of matches
A French GAA football team will arrive in Dublin next week to play three Dublin clubs in a first of its kind series of challenge matches.
The Paris Gaels men’s team will bring their skills to the capital for games in Rathmines, Glasnevin and Howth.
They will play Portobello GAA on Thursday, July 18 (throw-in 7pm); Na Fianna on Friday, July 19 (5.30pm); and Beann Eadair GAA on Saturday, July 20 (11am).
Paris Gaels, founded in 1994 as the first GAA club in mainland Europe, took to Twitter to say: “GAA is growing at an exceptional rate in France. Allez les bleus.”
Although, one person responded by saying: “Disappointing that despite his handling skills Thierry Henry didn’t make the squad.”
GAA France recorded 160 registered players in 2007, but this figure has grown to nearly a thousand, spread across 27 different clubs.
Today, France has more players and clubs than any other continental European country.
Brest, in north‑west France, is another club that gave a blueprint for the development of the games in France by becoming the first club to be founded without any Irish players.
Soon after came Rennes, who christened themselves Ar Gwazi Gouez (The Wild Geese, in Breton), a nod to the deep shared history that ties Ireland and France together.
Now, fourteen clubs compete in Brittany, which is also home to one of continental Europe’s only 15-a-side pitches for Gaelic games (Rennes).
Almost 88pc of GAA membership in France is non-Irish born, with registered players from 26 different nationalities. Women’s football and camogie are well-represented, with almost 25pc of the players being female.
