The National Stadium ( ga, An Staid Náisiúnta) (often referred to as the National Boxing Stadium or the National Sporting Arena) in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland, is the only purpose-built boxing stadium in the world. Major General WRE Murphy, Deputy Commissioner of the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...

(police) proposed building the stadium in early 1935 and started fundraising. Built in 1939, the venue hosts over 55 days of boxing and a number of other events each year.

Venue

The stadium was opened by government minister

Frank Aiken Francis Thomas Aiken (13 February 1898 – 18 May 1983) was an Irish revolutionary and politician. He was chief of staff of the Anti-Treaty IRA at the end of the Irish Civil War. Aiken later served as Tánaiste from 1965 to 1969 and Minister fo ...

in 1939. It is owned by the

Irish Amateur Boxing Association The Irish Athletic Boxing Association Ltd. (IABA) is the national governing body for amateur boxing on the island of Ireland, developing and controlling the sport. Founded in 1911, the IABA operates from the National Stadium (Ireland), Nation ...

(IABA) and has been used by them for over 60 years as the venue for their national and international contests.

Music

Historically, the stadium was used as a music venue, regularly hosting bands such as

Horslips Horslips are an Irish Celtic rock band that compose, arrange and perform songs frequently inspired by traditional Irish airs, jigs and Reel (dance), reels. The group are regarded as 'founding fathers of Celtic rock' for their fusion of tradit ...

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...

, U2,

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

, The Smiths, and many others. On 26 February 1980, the band U2 performed a concert at the venue which was attended by executives of

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

; at the end of the show, the label signed the band to their first recording contract.

Facilities

The venue is situated on the South Circular Road between Clanbrassil Street to the east and

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to the west. The stadium stages amateur and professional

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

and

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

bouts as well as providing facilities for concerts, conferences and corporate hospitality events.

Capacity

The capacity of the stadium is 2,080 for music events, which is reduced to 1,954 for boxing and wrestling events to accommodate the boxing or wrestling ring. The ''Ringside club'' seats up to 400 people for parties or seated dining, but some junior boxing events also take place here.

Refurbishment

In December 1999, the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism

Jim McDaid James Joseph McDaid (born 3 October 1949) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal North-East constituency from June 1989 until he resigned in November 2010. He also served as Minister for Tou ...

, announced a £1.3m grant under the Sports Capital Programme to undertake the refurbishment of the stadium. The two-storey building was provided with a new grey-coloured limestone facade during the refurbishment.

References

External links

List of boxing bouts and results at the National Stadium
{{Coord, 53.330706, -6.280323, type:landmark_region:IE, display=title Boxing venues in the Republic of Ireland Buildings and structures in Dublin (city) Boxing in Ireland Boxing in County Dublin Music in Dublin (city) Sports venues in Dublin (city) Music venues in Dublin (city)