Casement Park
| Páirc Mhic Easmainn | |
Main Stand
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| Location | Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 54°34′23.93″N 5°59′2.38″W / 54.5733139°N 5.9839944°WCoordinates: 54°34′23.93″N 5°59′2.38″W / 54.5733139°N 5.9839944°W |
| Public transit | Balmoral railway station |
| Owner | Antrim GAA |
| Capacity | 32,600 (40,000 after redevelopment) |
| Field size | 145 x 90 m |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1953 |
| Renovated | 2000 2014-16 (in progress) |
Casement Park (Irish: Páirc Mhic Asmaint) is the principal Gaelic Athletic Association stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland, home to the Antrim football and hurling teams. Located on the Andersonstown Road in the west of the city, and named after the Republican revolutionary Sir Roger Casement (1864-1916), the ground has a capacity of 32,600.
Casement Park, one of the largest stadia in Ulster, opened in June 1953, with Armagh Harps defeating St John’s of Antrim in the final of the inaugural Ulster Senior Club Football Championship. The newly opened Casement Park hosted the Ulster Championship final less than a month later, which saw Armagh overcome reigning All-Ireland champions Cavan.
In all, Casement Park has hosted eight Ulster football finals. However, the Antrim ground has not held the provincial showpiece since 1971, with St. Tiernach's Park in Clones hosting the final every year since except between 2004 and 2006 when it was moved to Croke Park such was the demand for tickets. A major facelift of the stadium took place in 2000, a move which saw more championship games played at Casement Park. In 2006, floodlights were added which allowed hurling and football to be played in the evening.
In 2006, proposals were raised to build a new multi-purpose stadium on the site of the old Maze prison near Lisburn, which was intended to host soccer, rugby union and Gaelic games. However, opposition to the idea led to it being dropped in favour of a new venue in the Sydenham area of East Belfast. This led to Ulster GAA, which was one of the partners in the Maze project, to pull out in favour of remaining at Casement Park.
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