The Athletic Grounds is a Gaelic Athletic Association

Gaelic Athletic Association

The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...

 stadium in Armagh

Armagh

Armagh is a large settlement in Northern Ireland, and the county town of County Armagh. It is a site of historical importance for both Celtic paganism and Christianity and is the seat, for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland, of the Archbishop of Armagh...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. It is the county ground and administrative headquarters of Armagh GAA

Armagh GAA

The Armagh County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Armagh GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Armagh...

  and is used for both gaelic football

Gaelic football

Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...

 and hurling

Hurling

Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...

. Following sponsorship from the Morgan Group the stadium is known as the Morgan Athletic Grounds from May 2011 .

Uses

The stadium is the county ground of Armagh GAA, i.e. the primary stadium in the county and as such is used for higher profile games such as county finals and inter-county matches in the national leagues and Ulster and All-Ireland Championships. The Stadium was used by Pearse Óg

Pearse Óg

Pearse Óg GFC is a Gaelic Athletic Association club from County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was formed in 1950 as a result of the popular street leagues that were running at the time. 'Na Piarsaigh Óga', roughly translated as the 'Young Pearse's', take their name from the Irish Republicans...

GAA Club in Armagh, when they had no ground of their own.

Redevelopment

In 2002, it was announced that the Athletic Grounds would receive £8 million from the GAA's Ulster Council to increase its capacity from 5,500 to 25,000. In February 2010 a new round of funding was confirmed for further redevelopment. This funding consisted of £800,000 from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, EU400,000 from the GAA authorities in Croke Park, EU100,000 from the Ulster Council, and £60,000 from Armagh District Council. This was a total of £1.3m in grant-aid. An estimated £700,000 would have to be raised or borrowed by the Armagh county board.

In December 2010 it was announced that naming rights for the stadium would be sold to raise additional funds for the refurbishment project.

As of 2011 the redevelopment has progressed to the addition of terracing all the way around, a roof over the west terrace, and installation of floodlighting. The completed new stand includes new changing rooms, administration facilities, a treatment suite and referee's area, and additional turnstiles and improved access for disabled spectators.

The stadium was officially reopened on February 5th 2011 for a National Football League game between Armagh and Dublin.

Transport

Since a railway line no longer runs through the city of Armagh, the stadium is only accessible by road. It is close to the main Armagh to Monaghan road.