Gaelic football

n [U]

a sport played by two teams of 15 players each. They play with a round ball that can be kicked, punched or bounced, but not carried. Points are scored either by kicking the ball into a net or by kicking it over the net between two tall posts. It is a popular game in Ireland, where it developed, and in some American cities.

* * *

Irish sport, an offshoot of the violent medieval game mêlée.

In the modern game, sides are limited to 15 players. Players may not throw the ball but may dribble it with hand or foot and may punch or punt it toward their opponents' goal. Goals count as either one or three points, depending on whether the ball passes above (one) or below (three) a crossbar attached to the goalposts. It is played mostly in Ireland and the U.S.

* * *

▪ sport

 Irish version of football (soccer), an offshoot of Britain's medieval mêlée, in which entire parishes would compete in daylong matches covering miles of countryside. A code of rules slightly restricting the ferocity of the sport was adopted in 1884, and the Gaelic Athletic Association was formed the same year to govern competition.

      In the modern game, sides are limited to 15 each. Players may not throw the ball, but they may dribble with hand or foot, punch, or punt the ball toward their opponent's goal. One point is scored for putting the ball between the goalposts and over the crossbar and three points for putting it between the posts and under the bar into a net. A game is divided into two 30-minute periods. Gaelic football is not played much outside Ireland and the United States; the winners of the annual all-Ireland championship usually visit the United States to play its teams.

* * *