Athletic Grounds (Armagh)

The Athletic Grounds is a GAA stadium in Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is the county ground and administrative headquarters of Armagh GAA and is used for both Gaelic football and hurling.

General information

Arena capacity: 18,500 spectators

Address: Athletic Grounds Armagh County GAA Board, Armagh BT60 4AE, UK

GPS coordinates for the navigator: 54°20′36.15″N 6°39′41.21″W

Year of construction: 1920s

Field: grass lawn with dimensions of 143 x 88 m

Seating plan of Athletic Grounds

Where to buy tickets?

You can purchase all your match day tickets for upcoming county games through Ticketmaster. Club Championship tickets can be bought in the MyTicket app. The price depends on the particular event and your age.

How to get there?

The stadium (part of which stands on the site of Irish Street Halt on the old Armagh-Keady railway line) is only accessible by road since the railway line through Armagh closed in 1957. It is close to the main Armagh to Monaghan road.

There is not a bus stop within 150m (164yds) of the venue.

The nearest mainline station is Portadown.

Parking is available on Game Days in the following areas:

• Christian Brothers Primary School;
• Malachy’s Car Park;
• Palace Demesne Public Park;
• Please respect the neighbours and park responsibly.

Facilities

The ground has a capacity of 18,500, with one covered stand seating 5,575, one covered terraced stand, uncovered terracing at both ends of the grounds, floodlighting, changing rooms, administration facilities, a treatment suite, media room, referee’s area, and access for disabled spectators.

The stadium is the county ground of Armagh GAA, i.e. the primary stadium in the county, and as such is used for higher profile games such as county finals and inter-county matches in the national leagues and Ulster and All-Ireland Championships.

Accessibility

Athletic Grounds is the home to Armagh GAA county grounds and administrations.

There is disabled parking available at Athletic Grounds, but they need to be booked in advance of match days, to ensure that you get a place. It can be busy on match day also, so please ensure that you have the correct documentation with you, or you could lose your spot.

Inside the grounds, there is a good-disabled toilet available, which is kept clean and has enough room for a large wheelchair and carer to assist.

The stand itself has been redeveloped and is very modern. There is good access into the stand itself and unlike most other stadiums, the disabled section is right in the middle of the action. This provides a great viewing point to all parts of the pitch. With the disabled section being raised slightly, it also means that people sitting in front do not block the view either.

It is a large section, so provides ample rooms for many wheelchairs to sit and not block each other when moving around, plus there is seating available for carers along with disabled people.

History

While remaining in trust for the County Board and serving as the county ground, the stadium was principally used for many years by Pearse Óg GAA Club in Armagh, which then had no ground of its own. In 1982 the ground was closed for a refurbishment costing £150,000. It was reopened in the GAA’s centenary year, 1984, with a challenge match between the Armagh and Dublin county teams. The cost of refurbishing and maintaining the grounds proved unsustainable for the local club, resulting in the venue being handed back to the County Board and, in 2002, in its being closed again. Apart from a brief reopening in 2008 the Athletic Grounds remained out of use until the redevelopment was completed in 2011.