''GAA Beo'' (''Live GAA'') is the principal

Gaelic games Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichí Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the ...

programme of

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

-broadcaster

TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known ...

. Typically, it is shown on

on a regular basis on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, as well as midweek, all year round showing live and deferred coverage of

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

and

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

matches in the club championships, National Leagues,

Fitzgibbon Cup The Fitzgibbon Cup ( ga, Corn Mhic Giobúin) is the trophy for the premier hurling championship among higher education institutions (universities, colleges and institutes of technology) in Ireland. The Fitzgibbon Cup competition is administered ...

and

Sigerson Cup The Sigerson Cup is the trophy for the premier Gaelic football championship among Higher Education institutions (Universities, Colleges and Institutes of Technology) in Ireland. It traditionally begins in mid January and ends in late February. ...

, as well as the provincial and All-Ireland Championships at minor, under-20 and under-21 levels.

History

Beginnings

A week after its launch on 31 October 1996, Teilifís na Gaeilge (TnaG) broadcast its first

-themed programme. ''

Ard san Aer ''Ard san Aer'' (''High in the Sky'') was an Irish language television programme which showed highlights of Gaelic games. It was TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launche ...

'', a weekly studio-based programme presented by

Cynthia Ní Mhurchú Cynthia Ní Mhurchú (born 1966) is an Irish people, Irish barrister from Carlow and previously a radio host with Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). She presented Eurovision Song Contest 1994 in Dublin along with Gerry Ryan. Biography Ní Mhu ...

, featured special guests who discussed their favourite sporting memories. The programme lasted for one season. TnaG's first foray into live Gaelic games broadcasting occurred over the

June Bank Holiday In Ireland, the June Holiday (sometimes called the June Bank Holiday, ga, Lá Saoire i mí an Mheithimh) is observed on the first Monday of June. It was previously observed as Whit Monday Whit Monday or Pentecost Monday, also known as Monday o ...

weekend in 1997 when the fledgling station provided five hours of coverage of the

Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta is an annual All Ireland Gaelic football competition contested by clubs from the Irish language-speaking Gaeltacht areas of Ireland. Clubs compete on a county-basis at first, in order to qualify for the tournament th ...

. ''Ard san Aer'' returned with a new format in October 1998.

Mícheál Ó Domhnaill Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (; 7 October 1951 – 7 July 2006) was an Irish singer, guitarist, composer, and producer who was a major influence on Irish traditional music in the second half of the twentieth century. He is remembered for his innovativ ...

, who previously presented the

Spanish football Football is the most popular sport in Spain. Spain has some of the most important teams in Europe (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Seville, Valencia, and others). It also has a high number of players (most of them being unprofession ...

programme '' Olé, Olé'', presented the new version of the programme. Broadcast on Wednesday evenings, the programme initially featured highlights of the previous weekends' games in the club championships and National Leagues. The programme was later expanded to feature highlights of inter-county championship games during the summer months. The first live edition of ''Ard san Aer Beo'' was broadcast on 3 October 1999 and featured coverage of the

Offaly Senior Hurling Championship The Offaly Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Molloy Environmental Senior Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Offaly GAA clubs. The Offaly County Board of the Gaelic Athlet ...

final between Birr and St. Rynagh's.

Development

''Ard san Aer Beo'' proved to be an instant success due to the fact that TG4's television rivals did not show live broadcasts of club championship or National League games. In 1999 the programme underwent a re-branding and was renamed ''GAA Beo'', however, ''Ard san Aer'' remained as the name of the mid-week highlights programme. The first edition of the newly-styled ''GAA Beo'' was broadcast on TG4 on 17 September 2000 and showed live coverage of the

Meath Senior Football Championship The Meath Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition between the top Gaelic football clubs in Meath, Ireland. Qualification for subsequent competitions The winners of the Meath Senior Football Champi ...

final between

Dunshaughlin Dunshaughlin ( or locally ) is a town in County Meath, Ireland. A commuter town for nearby Dublin, Dunshaughlin more than tripled in population (from 1,275 to 4,035 inhabitants) between the 1991 and 2016 censuses. History Foundation Dunshaugh ...

and

Kilmainhamwood Kilmainhamwood, historically simply Killmainham (),Placenames Database of Ireland
(see archival records) i ...

Coverage

Games from the following competitions are regularly shown on ''GAA Beo'': *

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

Christy Ring Cup The Christy Ring Cup () is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. Originally introduced as a second-tier competition, it is currently the third tier overall in the inter-county hurling championship system. Eac ...

Nicky Rackard Cup The Nicky Rackard Cup (; often referred to as the Rackard Cup) is the fourth tier of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Each year, the champion team in the Nicky Rackard Cup is promoted to the Christy Ring Cup, and the lowest finishin ...

Lory Meagher Cup The Lory Meagher Cup (; often referred to as the Meagher Cup) is the fifth-highest inter-county senior championship in hurling. Each year, the champion team in the Lory Meagher Cup is promoted to the Nicky Rackard Cup. The Lory Meagher Cup, wh ...

All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship The GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the EirGrid GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship) is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association ( ...

All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling Under-20 All-Ireland Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling Under-20 All-Ireland Championship) is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (G ...

Leinster Under-21 Hurling Championship The Leinster GAA Hurling All-Ireland Under-20 Championship known simply as the Leinster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the high ...

Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Munster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-co ...

All-Ireland Minor Football Championship The Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship is the premier under-17 "knockout" competition in Gaelic football played in Ireland. 2017 was the final year of the minor under 18 football championship as it were replaced by an under ...

All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship) is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). I ...

All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament which began in season 1970–71. It is the top-tier competition for the senior football clubs of Ireland and London. The current champions are Kilcoo of ...

Connacht Senior Club Football Championship The Connacht Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament played between senior clubs in Connacht, with one qualifying from each of the five individual county championships. The winners of the Connacht football champ ...

Leinster Senior Club Football Championship The Leinster Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament played on a knockout basis between the senior club championship winners of the competing counties in Leinster. The current holders of the Leinster title are Ba ...

Munster Senior Club Football Championship The Munster Senior Club Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Munster GAA Football Senior Club Championship) is an annual Gaelic football competition for the champion clubs of each county. It has been organised by the Mu ...

Ulster Senior Club Football Championship The Ulster Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition played between the top clubs in Ulster GAA. The trophy awarded to the winners is the Seamus McFerran Cup ( ga, Corn Shéamuis Mhic Fearáin). The winners and th ...

All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Club Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Club Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county club hurlin ...

Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship The Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Club Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association and conte ...

Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship The Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Munster GAA Hurling Senior Club Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1964 f ...

* County Senior Football Championships * County Senior Hurling Championships *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:GAA Beo 1990s Irish television series 2000s Irish television series 2010s Irish television series Gaelic games on television TG4 original programming