The origins of the GAA

Basic Rules: If the ball goes over the crossbar but between the posts, it’s worth a point. If it finds the net it’s called a goal, which is worth three points. For example, if the score is 5-2 to 0-4, the first team is winning by 13 points. Such a big margin in Gaelic Football is a rarity though, which very few fans (mostly from Leitrim) have had to endure.

hurl and sliotar (Left)
Gaelic football (right)
http://gaacork.ie/news/304497/cork_county_championships_programme2015

Handballs are allowed and so are those dangerous looking sticks. Only the ladies are allowed to pick the ball straight off the ground without using their foot, which according to the scientists who designed the rules is an impossible skill for the fairer sex to master.

Players can pass by kicking and punching or hand-passing the ball. i.e. no throwing allowed. You’re allowed to hand-pass the ball over for a point but it is illegal to score a goal using this method. For counties such as Carlow, it is seemingly illegal to score a goal using any method.

(taken from - Dummies Guide to GAA Sportsnewsireland.com)

GAA logo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Logo_of_GAA.svg

Ancient scriptures give us an insight to pre-GAA, hurling mainly but the there are still records of football. Ancient Brehen law documents show that hurling was played since at least the 8th century. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, hurling was banned by the English crown. The first record of Gaelic football dates back to 1527 in the statutes of Galway, which allowed football to be played but not hurling. The earliest reported match was in Slane in 1712, between Meath and Louth. Foreign visitors noted the importance the Gaelic football and hurling had to the social life of the community. Teams consisted of all the able men in the parish or town. They would compete against other parishes in a neutral area in between the two areas. The game was won when the ball crossed a the boundary of the opponents parish.

Michael Cusack . Founder of the GAA
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/michael-cusack-trod-on-toes-but-maurice-davin-kept-fledgling-gaa-together-1.1409208

In August 1884 Michael Cusack met with a group of nationalist in Loughre, Co Galway, to discuss establishing the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) to revive hurling. Now the GAA is the largest sporting association in Ireland, with over 2,800 clubs, 182,000 footballers and 97,000 hurlers.