The Irish are famous for their welcoming nature and the 'craic' (fun) they always seem to have, whether it's Paddy's Day or not. When we ask people what first comes to mind about the Irish, it's usually their drinking habits, their whiskey and their Guinness. And it's true, for most their favorite pastime is definitely "having fun" in a pub on weekends or even throughout the week. Good or bad economics: many pub owners will always have a thriving business. However, as I have discovered in recent years: most Irish people take their sport very seriously, even though watching sport usually goes hand in hand with the craic. Gaelic football, Hurling and Camogie, Gaelic handball and rounders are all Irish sports covered by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), Ireland's largest sporting organisation. In addition to this there is Irish Street Bowling (yes, you read that right), which has its own association. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Rugby is of course also a sport for which the Irish are known around the world and football is watched a lot, but not played as much. Not really professionally anyway. Most of the soccer players here still have day jobs! Could you imagine Messi driving a taxi between training sessions and matches? Over the next few weeks I'd like to spend some time on each of Ireland's national sports, but the first one I'd like to talk about is also the most important: Gaelic football. When I moved to Ireland seven years ago, I quickly discovered that Gaelic football holds a special place in the hearts of Irish people. A village can be as small as a single street, a church, a school, a shop-post office annex and at least one pub; there is also likely to be a football pitch. If not, you will find one in the next hole in the ground and they will share it. Children as young as 4 years old can join the local club, but they make exceptions; according to them you couldn't get them in young enough. In our family, my daughter joined the team when she was just 5 years old, my eldest son was 4 years old, and the youngest one only started this season when he was 3.5 years old. When you take a peek at one of the training sessions or matches, you can easily see that the girls are perhaps more enthusiastic about their football than the boys. When heavy rain falls, you will see the kids hiding in the duck. Not the girls. They may be tempted to leave camp when a hurricane hits! As well as each city having its own Gaelic football team, each county also has one and this is where things get really serious.