Republic of Ireland football stadiums overview
Football Ground Guide currently has a total of 17 stadium guides for grounds that are located within the Republic of Ireland. 16 of these venues are homes of clubs, while one, the Aviva Stadium, is the country’s national stadium and the home of the national football team.
Of those 16 club football grounds, 10 are the homes of current Irish Premier League sides, while the remaining six are guides to venues that you will find in the lower divisions. Such as Finn Park — the home of Finn Harps.
Despite that, all 16 can currently be found on this page of the site, while the Dublin-based Aviva Stadium can be found using the search bar or within the “others” section of our various ground guides.
By Region/City
As you will most likely expect, many of the major teams in the Republic of Ireland are located within Dublin – the country’s capital city. This applies to four of the current 10 teams in the Irish Premier League, meaning just six sides are spread across the rest of the country.
A full breakdown of teams in each major city is as follows:
Dublin
As mentioned, many of the country’s most established teams are located within Dublin, with 40% of sides in the Premier League based there, as well as the Republic of Ireland’s national stadium.
The four Dublin-based club stadium guides are:
Dundalk
However, one team that has often penetrated the ‘big four’ Dublin clubs is Dundalk FC, who, unsurprisingly, are based in the city of Dundalk in their home Oriel Park.
They have won 14 top-flight league titles, making them the second most successful team in the country. So while Dundalk may not be the home of as many football teams as Dublin, it has certainly still had an important role to play in the sports development in Ireland.
Cork
Cork is the second-largest city in the Republic of Ireland, but, much like Dundalk, has just one major football team representing the area.
That is of course Cork City FC who play their football at Turners Cross. They are the winners of five league titles, three of which were in the top flight.
Limerick
While there have been multiple different sides who call the city of Limerick home at one point, there has only ever been one at any given time since 1937. Limerick is the definition of a one-club city.
However, after Limerick FC dissolved in 2019, there are currently no stadium guides for active Limerick-based teams on Football Ground Guide – despite the city being the third largest in the country.
Galway
Due to the concentration of clubs in Dublin, most cities in the Republic of Ireland are one-team regions — Galway is one of those areas.
Galway United were formed in 1937 and whilst they have one second-division league title to their name, are yet to achieve the same feat in the country’s top flight. They currently play their football at Eamon Decay Park.
What are Republic of Ireland stadiums like?
The first thing to note is that stadiums in the Republic of Ireland are fairly small in nature compared to most of the other major grounds in European football – very few venues at the club level boast a capacity greater than 10,000.
For example, Oriel Park, the home of Dundalk FC, contains approximately 4,500 seats.
However, grounds being fairly modest in size isn’t necessarily a bad thing and offers plenty of benefits. First and foremost, the fact that supporters in smaller venues tend to be able to create far better atmospheres due to the site’s compact design.
Secondly, match-going fans are also likely to be sat or stood much closer to the pitch – something which many supporters love.
Key stats
Biggest stadiums in the Republic of Ireland
As alluded to, there aren’t many big stadiums in the Republic of Ireland from a capacity point of view – most of the large venues in the country are instead reserved for Gaelic football.
The largest football ground in the country is the national stadium, known as the Aviva Stadium. This has a capacity of 51,700 – dwarfing every other venue on the list.
A list of the top five biggest football stadiums in Ireland is as follows:
- Aviva Stadium – 51,700
- Tallaght Stadium – 10,716
- Turners Cross – 7,485
- Tolka Park – 5,700
- Richmond Park – 5,350
Best atmosphere
Thanks to their compact designs, you would struggle to find a stadium in Ireland that has a poor atmosphere. That being said, some are of course slightly better than others.
Dublin is an excellent place to start when looking at atmospheres and Shamrock Rovers’ Tallaght Stadium is arguably the best of the lot. The entire ground is electric on matchday, particularly the South Stand – although tickets for this section are also the hardest to secure.
Elsewhere in the country, Cork City’s Turners Cross venue is widely regarded as having one of the best matchday atmospheres, while Galway United’s Eamon Decay Park is another fan favourite in the country.
Oldest and most recent stadiums
The oldest stadium in the Republic of Ireland is a venue that we are yet to discuss – Carlisle Ground, the home of Bray Wanderers. Opened in 1862, the site is also one of the oldest grounds in the entire world.
After the Carlisle Ground, it is once again time to look towards Dublin and the Aviva Stadium, which was officially opened in 1872. The country’s national stadium, it is a venue which has been at the core of Irish football almost since the sport began.
At the complete opposite end of the scale is the UCD Bowl, home of Univesity College Dublin AFC. The ground opened as recently as 2008, meaning it is comfortably the newest major stadium in the Republic of Ireland, with many of the country’s other venues opening in the early 20th century.
Past major European football matches in the Republic of Ireland
Given that Aviva Stadium is the only venue in the country to have been awarded Category Four status by UEFA, it makes sense that the vast majority of major European finals hosted in the Republic of Ireland have taken place at the ground.
Some of the most notable matches the stadium has hosted are as follows:
- 2011 Europa League Final
- 2024 Europa League Final
H3 Euro 2028
The Aviva Stadium is also set to make its debut as a host in major international tournament football, with the site selected as one of the 10 hosting venues of Euro 2028, taking place across Ireland and the United Kingdom.