Walsh Park () is a GAA stadium in

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

named after Willie Walsh, a well-known referee and long time campaigner for Gaelic games in Waterford. It is one of the two homes of the

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

and

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

teams, the other being Fraher Field in

Dungarvan Dungarvan () is a coastal town and harbour in County Waterford, on the south-east coast of Ireland. Prior to the merger of Waterford County Council with Waterford City Council in 2014, Dungarvan was the county town and administrative centre of ...

. The two grounds are rivals for important games. The current Waterford hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald has stated that "(T)here's this endless battle between Walsh Park and Fraher Field, a political battle almost. If one field gets a game, the other has to get the next one. Dungarvan was a nice field, but my personal preference was always Walsh Park, because I felt it had more of the feel of a fortress." Walsh Park is named after Willie Walsh, who refereed many All-Ireland SFC and SHC finals, including the 1916 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final.

Redevelopment

The stadium was set to undergo a €7m redevelopment to result in an increased capacity of 16,500 by 2020. However, delays because of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

and increased costs mean completion is not expected until 2023. Phase 1 of the redevelopment was completed by the end of 2023. Works were completed on a new uncovered northern stand with a capacity of 3,400, along with the refurbishment of the existing southern stand. The Waterford senior hurling team played their home games in the 2023 Munster Senior Hurling Championship at

Semple Stadium FBD Semple Stadium is the home of hurling and Gaelic football for Tipperary GAA and for the province of Munster. Located in Thurles, County Tipperary, it is the second largest GAA stadium in Ireland (after Croke Park), with a capacity of 45,690 ...

due to the redevelopments.

References

External links

Walsh Park

Walsh Park on ticketmaster.ie

Walsh Park
Gaelic games grounds in the Republic of Ireland Sport in Waterford (city) Sports venues in County Waterford {{Ireland-sports-venue-stub

Redevelopment

See also

References

External links