Irish National Costums
Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), are highlights of the hurling and Gaelic football
seasons.
Soccer, rugby, sailing, cycling, golf, and horse and greyhound racing are also favorite
activities. Soccer has become a particularly popular spectator sport in the 1990s,
reflecting the enthusiasm surrounding the national team's successes during the first half
of the decade. Fishing, or angling, is also a common recreational activity, featuring
mainly trout and salmon fishing. Rugby internationals played at Dublin's Lansdowne
Road stadium are considered high points of the sporting year. Enthusiasts of horse racing
flock to the Galway Races in the summer and early fall.
Holidays and Celebrations
The Irish celebrate New Year's Day on 1 January. Saint Patrick's Day on 17 March is a
national holiday and is marked by parades, shamrock decorations, and sometimes the
wearing of clothing that is green (the national color). Legend has it that resourceful Saint
annaabi.ee 
