Gaelic games are sports played in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association

Gaelic Athletic Association

The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...

. The two main games are Gaelic football

Gaelic football

Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...

 and hurling

Hurling

Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...

. Other games organised by the Association include Gaelic handball

Gaelic handball

Gaelic handball is a sport similar to Basque pelota, racquetball, squash and American handball . It is one of the four Gaelic games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association...

 and rounders

Rounders

Rounders is a game played between two teams of either gender. The game originated in England where it was played in Tudor times. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a round wooden, plastic or metal bat. The players score by...

.

Women's versions of hurling and football are also played: camogie

Camogie

Camogie is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women; it is almost identical to the game of hurling played by men. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and world wide, largely among Irish communities....

, organised by the Camogie Association of Ireland, and ladies' Gaelic football

Ladies' Gaelic football

Ladies' Gaelic football is a team sport for women, very similar to Gaelic football, and co-ordinated by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association...

, organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association

Ladies' Gaelic Football Association

The Ladies Gaelic Football Association is the organisation which promotes and regulates ladies' Gaelic football in Ireland.The association has also selected the Ireland women's international rules football team, which will play the Australia women's international rules football team in...

. While women's versions are not organised by the GAA, they are closely associated with it.

Today, Gaelic games are the most popular games in Ireland in terms of supporter attendances at senior games. Despite an economic downturn, attendances in 2009 were up 11% on 2008.

Gaelic football

Gaelic football is the most popular of the Gaelic games and is played by teams of 15 on a rectangular grass pitch with H-shaped goals at each end. The primary object is to score by driving the ball through the goals. The team with the highest score at the end of the match wins. The female version of the game is known as ladies' Gaelic football

Ladies' Gaelic football

Ladies' Gaelic football is a team sport for women, very similar to Gaelic football, and co-ordinated by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association...

 and is very similar to the men's game with a few minor rule changes

Hurling

Hurling is a stick and ball game played by teams of 15 on a rectangular grass pitch with H-shaped goals at each end. The primary object is to score by driving the ball through the goals or putting the ball over the bar and thereby scoring a point. Three points is the equivalent of a goal. The team with the highest score at the end of the match wins. It is over three-thousand years old, and is said to be the world's fastest field game, combining skills from lacrosse, field hockey, and baseball in a hard-hitting, highly skilled game. The female version of the game is known as camogie

Camogie

Camogie is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women; it is almost identical to the game of hurling played by men. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and world wide, largely among Irish communities....

 and is very similar to hurling with a few minor rule changes.

Gaelic handball

Gaelic handball is a game where two players use their hands to return a ball against a wall. The game is similar to American handball

American handball

American handball is a sport in which players hit a small rubber ball against a wall using their hands.- History :...

. There are three codes of handball; 60x30, 40x20 and One Wall. One Wall handball is the most popular international version of handball with it being played in over 30 countries. It is hoped that this version of handball will soon become an Olympic sport. The sport of handball is governed by GAA Handball

GAA Handball

GAA Handball Ireland is the governing body for the sport of handball. Its headquarters is located in Croke Park, Dublin....

 in Ireland.

Rounders

Rounders is a bat and ball game which is played in Ireland; a similar version is played in England. Rounders is the least popular of the GAA Gaelic games and is organised by a sub division of the GAA known as the Rounders Council of Ireland. It is similar to softball

Softball

Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...

.

Other Gaelic games

• Other Gaelic games such as gaelic athletics have nearly or completely died out.
• Pastimes such as road bowling, a sport played in Ireland for a long time, could be considered Gaelic games.
• Although not Irish, the Scottish sport of shinty
  Shinty
  Shinty is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands, and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread, being once competitively played on a widespread basis in England and other areas in the...
  
   could be called a Gaelic game, as it is part of the Scottish Gaelic culture and shares common roots with hurling.
• Highland Games
  Highland games
  Highland games are events held throughout the &Highland games are events held throughout the &Highland games are events held throughout the &(-è_çà in Scotland and other countries as a way of celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture and heritage, especially that of the Scottish Highlands. Certain...
  
   could be considered Gaelic games, with shinty
  Shinty
  Shinty is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands, and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread, being once competitively played on a widespread basis in England and other areas in the...
  
  , although not Irish, are part of the Scottish Gaelic culture and history.