Páirc Uí Rinn

Páirc Uí Rinn

Location	Cork, Ireland
Coordinates
Public transit	Cork railway station Blackrock Road bus stop(202) Ballinlough Road bus stop (215)
Owner	Cork GAA
Capacity	16,440
Field size	144 m x 88 m

Páirc Uí Rinn (pronounced [ˈpˠaːɾʲc iː ˈɾˠiːn̪ʲ], "Ring Park") is a stadium in Cork owned by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It was formerly Flower Lodge, a soccer ground home to several Cork teams in the 20th century, named after a large house on whose grounds it was built.

Flower Lodge

The most popular and enduring soccer team to use Flower Lodge as its home was Cork Hibernians, who used the ground from 1962 and were one of the most successful League of Ireland teams in the 1960s and '70s. "The Lodge" was regularly filled for Hibs home games, particularly for their local derby with Cork Celtic. However, both Cork clubs went out of business in the late 1970s, after experiencing a sudden collapse in their crowds. Cobh Ramblers, then a nonleague side, played an FAI Cup semifinal replay against Sligo Rovers at Flower Lodge in 1983, as it had a larger capacity than their own ground. The 1973 FAI Cup final replay was played at Flower Lodge. A new Cork team, Cork City F.C., was formed in 1984, and initially also played at Flower Lodge. In May 1985, the Republic of Ireland national soccer team played a friendly match against Spain there, as part of the Cork 800 celebrations. Also as part of the celebrations the Republic of Ireland women's national football team played a 1987 European Competition for Women's Football qualification game against England there.

In 1986, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, who owned the ground, put it up for sale, forcing Cork City F.C. to move to Turners Cross.

Páirc Uí Rinn

The old stadium was acquired by the GAA, and renamed Páirc Uí Rinn after Christy Ring, noted Cork and Glen Rovers hurler. The terraces at either end of the pitch were demolished to allow the longer playing field required by Gaelic games.

Páirc Uí Rinn is the second-largest capacity GAA ground in County Cork, behind Páirc Uí Chaoimh. The former hosts lesser matches, such as the group stages of the National Hurling League, National Football League and underage games; the latter is reserved for major matches such as the All-Ireland championships. The current capacity of Páirc Uí Rinn is 16,440.

Páirc Uí Rinn was the first GAA stadium in Ireland to have installed floodlights, resulting in a number of late evening games taking place.

Capacity

The stadium has a capacity of approximately 16,440, with 5,200 seats in the covered stand, 2,800 in the uncovered stand, capacity for approximately 6,200 in the first terrace (covered), 2,200 in the second terrace (uncovered), and capacity for 40 in the wheelchair area.

See also

• List of Gaelic Athletic Association stadiums
• List of stadiums in Ireland by capacity