Whether you are eight years old or 89 years young, the magic you feel when the cool air and caldron of noise of Croke Park hit you is truly phenomenal. As a young GAA enthusiast, the days out in the stadium watching football matches – both hurling and football – are beyond special.

For that reason, the inner workings of Croke Park were as fascinating to me as what we notice on the outside. For anyone curious about this, take the Croke Park stadium tour.

From the moment you walk in until you leave, the Croke Park tour grabs you as it would on any big match day. Whether you aspire to be the player in the dressing room, the journalist in the press box or the businessperson in the corporate box, the tour takes you to see all three.

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From the 12-minute movie about the All-Ireland finals at the beginning of the tour, to looking around the museum at the end of it – and everything in between – you can’t help but be impressed.

Personally, I have always been confident in my knowledge of the GAA, Adam Burke, our tour guide, however, would put you to shame. From the little details and facts about Croker to the funny stories of managers and players in the dressing rooms before big games, he didn’t miss a trick. His job is to inform. He very much succeeded.

When the hour-long stadium tour finishes up, you are given licence to have a look around the Croke Park museum. For anyone who is in any way attached to or enthused by the GAA, this part of your day is nothing short of fascinating.

Niamh McCoy, museum director, was as passionate about the museum and I was excited to see it. She believes the reception it gets from the large crowds each day is very positive.

“The feedback is brilliant. On TripAdvisor, out of 1,300 things to do, we are number five, which is wonderful. It is a great day, for overseas visitors it is something unexpected because, unlike many stadiums, there is a really strong story about the history of the venue and how the games are part of Irish culture,” She explained.

Little gems

The vast collection of memorabilia in the museum includes a letter from Michael Cusack to Maurice Davin, two of the organisation’s founding fathers, outlining his plans to establish a body that encapsulates Irish traditions. It would become the GAA as we know it today. Also on display is Michael Collins’ minute’s book that he used when treasurer and secretary of Geraldine’s GAA club in London. As Niamh said: “The museum is full of little gems.” You can’t really argue.

The collection of All-Ireland medals from numerous legends, the array of old jerseys, hurls, footballs, helmets, whistles, shorts and socks that all have significance to the GAA is as impressive as it is fascinating.

There is even an Olympic exhibition taking place there currently, which has a collection of Irish athletes’ medals and kit from previous Olympics. The museum is not bound by one sport.

Things have come a long way for Croke Park in the last century. The days of sheep grazing the pitch to keep it in nick and only one person employed in Croke Park are long gone.

Since the tours began in 2000, the popularity has increased year on year. Last year, 140,000 people took either the stadium or skyline tour in Croker. With an average of 20 tours daily, staff like Adam and Niamh are kept busy.

There is no place like the home of the GAA.