Emerging from Dublin airport, just-landed NFL fans will see glimpses of Croke Park on the horizon of the city’s northside. One of Dublin’s assets is that its skyline has not — yet — been disfigured by the mania for glass skyscrapers afflicting so many cities, so the top of Croke Park can be seen peeking above local houses and offices. A better view is from the nearby Dublin-Belfast railway. From there, the stadium dominates the one and two-storey houses of inner Dublin.
But it will not be until visitors are on the pavement, walking down Fitzroy Avenue from Drumcondra station or along Jones Road or Clonliffe Road, that Croke Park will truly hit. Rising from these red brick, terraced city streets of Ireland’s capital, Croke Park greets the first-time visitor like a big statement.
Some of this is to do with height, in comparison to the surrounding streets and the adjacent rail line. The natural reaction is to look upwards. It is just there, huge yet up close, part of the neighbourhood.
Some of it is about the structural footprint of the 82,300-capacity modern version — it is, alongside Twickenham in London, the largest non-soccer stadium in Europe. And a lot has to do with the history contained within Croke Park. A ground first used in 1884 has the accumulated experience and muscle memory, 141 years of it, of the fans who have walked inside and those who have played there.