Casement Park

Casement Park stands in west Belfast on Andersonstown Road, a large stadium built after the Second World War. It was named for Roger Casement, an Irish revolutionary executed in 1916. The ground opened in 1953 and once held thirty-one thousand five hundred spectators. Antrim hurling and Gaelic football teams played there until 2013. By 2021 the stadium had fallen into dereliction. The site has played a part in local and national history. During the Troubles the British Army occupied the ground for more than a year. Rallies and memorial events took place there, including hunger-strike anniversaries. Casement Park hosted eight Ulster football finals before 1972. After a facelift in 2000 it staged more championship games. The last match was the 2013 Ulster quarter-final between Antrim and Monaghan. Today the stadium is closed while plans for rebuilding continue. A joint UK and Ireland bid for UEFA Euro 2028 included Casement Park. Some demolition work has begun, but funding delays mean completion is uncertain. The redevelopment aims to create a forty-thousand-seat venue. Local residents once objected to the scale of the project. The stadium’s future remains tied to both sporting and political change.