Pearse Stadium

Pearse Stadium is the principal GAA stadium in County Galway, Ireland. The Galway GAA Gaelic football and hurling teams use the stadium for their home games.. The stadium, amongst others in the province of Connacht, is also used for games in the Connacht Senior Football ChampionshipHistoryEarly yearsThe stadium opened on 16 June 1957, as 16,000 people came to watch Galway beat Tipperary in hurling, and Kerry in football, and to watch Bishop Michael Browne bless the facility. The stadium was opened by GAA President, Séamus McFerran. Among those invited were the 12 surviving members of the 1923 all-Ireland winning hurling team.The area on which the stadium was built was known locally as The Boggers. The 17acre site was offered to the Gaelic Athletic Association by the town secretary Sean Gillan, and terms of purchase were negotiated. Much of the land was very wet and boggy. Work was being carried out to deepen the River Corrib at the time, so the infill from the river was used to fill in parts of the pitch and give it an elevated sideline.