Swimming leads Ireland with 8% share of adults who took part in the sport in the previous seven days. Ranking of 10 sports, with sources.
This page ranks the sports of Ireland by one number that is collected the same way for all of them: The Irish Sports Monitor (ISM) is a nationally representative population survey run by Sport Ireland with Ipsos B&A, based on 8,512 interviews with adults aged 16 and older in 2023, asking respondents which sports they took part in during the previous 7 days; the same seven day recall question is applied to every sport, which makes the percentages comparable across the ranking. The figures come from Sport Ireland / Ipsos B&A, Irish Sports Monitor 2023.
Swimming is on top, followed by Running and Cycling. The full table below covers 10 sports, and every section further down names the source for the figure it uses.
The Most Popular Sports in Ireland
The table counts share of adults who took part in the sport in the previous seven days, not people who say they like a sport. It is the figure that is published the same way for every sport in the list, which is what makes the rows comparable. The reference year is 2023.
| # | Sport | Share of adults who took part in the sport in the previous seven days | Governing body |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swimming | 8% | Swim Ireland |
| 2 | Running | 7% | Athletics Ireland |
| 3 | Cycling | 5% | Cycling Ireland |
| 4 | Soccer | 4% | Football Association of Ireland |
| 5 | Weights | 3% | |
| 6 | Gaelic football | 3% | Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) |
| 7 | Dancing | 3% | |
| 8 | Golf | 3% | Golf Ireland |
| 9 | Yoga | 3% | |
| 10 | Hurling/Camogie | 1% | Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) / Camogie Association |
One caveat applies to every ranking of this kind: someone who plays two sports is counted twice, once in each federation, and sports people mostly do on their own, such as running or hiking, barely show up at all.
Most Played and Most Watched Are Not the Same Sport
Membership and license numbers tell you what people do. Audience figures tell you what they watch, and the two lists rarely have the same sport on top.
| Sport | Figure | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Hurling | 1,231,000 | The 2024 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final was the most watched sports broadcast of the summer on Irish television. |
| Gaelic football | 1,085,000 | The 2024 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final between Armagh and Galway drew over a million television viewers. |
| Soccer | 1,370,000 | The Republic of Ireland men’s World Cup play off match against Czechia in March 2026 drew record numbers to RTE’s coverage. |
Is There a National Sport of Ireland?
Ireland has no national sport laid down by law or by government decision. No Act of the Oireachtas or government decree designates a legally recognized national sport for Ireland; Gaelic games hold the title only informally, through description by the Gaelic Athletic Association itself.
- Hurling. The Gaelic Athletic Association itself describes hurling as Ireland’s national sport, a status based on tradition rather than legislation.
Sports That Were Invented in Ireland
- Hurling. Hurling has been played on the island of Ireland for more than 3,000 years and was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2018.
- Gaelic football. Gaelic football’s modern rules were first codified by the Gaelic Athletic Association, founded in Thurles, County Tipperary in 1884.
- Camogie. Camogie, the women’s code of hurling, was founded as an organized sport in Dublin in 1904.
#1 Swimming
- Share of adults who took part in the sport in the previous seven days: 8% (Swim Ireland, 2023)
- Best known athlete: Mona McSharry. Sligo swimmer who won bronze in the 100m breaststroke at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Ireland’s first ever Olympic medal in a breaststroke event, touching out Lilly King and Benedetta Pilato by 0.01 of a second
Swimming is the most widely practiced individual sport in Ireland after general exercise. In the Irish Sports Monitor 2023, 8 percent of adults said they had swum in the previous seven days, the highest share recorded for any specific sport in the survey.
Swim Ireland is the national governing body for swimming, water polo, diving and artistic swimming. Sligo’s Mona McSharry gave the sport its highest profile moment in years by winning Ireland’s first ever Olympic breaststroke medal at the Paris 2024 Games.
Latest Posts about Swimming
#2 Running
- Share of adults who took part in the sport in the previous seven days: 7% (Athletics Ireland, 2023)
- Best known athlete: Ciara Mageean. Middle distance runner from Portaferry who won 1500m silver at the 2022 European Championships in Munich and 1500m gold at the 2024 European Championships in Rome
Running is the second most common sport in Ireland by weekly participation. The Irish Sports Monitor 2023 recorded 7 percent of adults running in the previous seven days, level with the sport’s position among the country’s most popular activities in recent years.
Athletics Ireland is the national governing body for the sport. Ciara Mageean is the country’s leading current middle distance runner, adding a European 1500m title in Rome in 2024 to the silver she won in Munich two years earlier.
Latest Posts about Running
#3 Cycling
- Share of adults who took part in the sport in the previous seven days: 5% (Cycling Ireland, 2023)
- Best known athlete: Sam Bennett. Sprinter from Carrick on Suir who won two stages and the points classification (green jersey) at the 2020 Tour de France, the first Irishman to win the green jersey since Sean Kelly in 1989
Cycling as a sport, separate from cycling for transport, was practiced by 5 percent of adults in the previous seven days according to the Irish Sports Monitor 2023, a level the report says remains ahead of the participation rate recorded in 2019.
Cycling Ireland is the national governing body for the sport. Sam Bennett is the country’s most successful current road racer, having won the points classification at the Tour de France in 2020, a feat no Irishman had managed since Sean Kelly in 1989.
Latest Posts about Cycling
#4 Soccer
- Share of adults who took part in the sport in the previous seven days: 4% (Football Association of Ireland, 2023)
- Top national league: League of Ireland Premier Division
- Best known athlete: Katie McCabe. Arsenal left back who has captained the Republic of Ireland women’s team since 2017, the youngest captain in the team’s history, and who scored Ireland’s first ever goal at a Women’s World Cup finals in 2023
Soccer is the most widely played team sport in Ireland by adult participation. The Irish Sports Monitor 2023 recorded 4 percent of adults playing soccer in the previous seven days, an increase from 3 percent in 2022.
The Football Association of Ireland is the sport’s governing body and runs the League of Ireland Premier Division, the country’s top domestic league. Arsenal’s Katie McCabe has captained the Republic of Ireland women’s team since 2017 and led the side at the 2023 World Cup.
Latest Posts about Soccer
#5 Weights
- Share of adults who took part in the sport in the previous seven days: 3% (2023)
Lifting weights was reported by 3 percent of adults in the previous seven days in the Irish Sports Monitor 2023, placing it among the mid ranked activities in the survey alongside several other sports tied at the same share.
The report records weights training mainly taking place in gyms and sports centres, which it identifies as the most common location for this activity among the sports it tracks.
#6 Gaelic football
- Share of adults who took part in the sport in the previous seven days: 3% (Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), 2023)
- Top national league: All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
- Best known athlete: David Clifford. Kerry forward who has won the PwC GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year award three times and is a six time All-Star, and who was the championship’s top scorer as Kerry won the 2025 All-Ireland title
Gaelic football is Ireland’s most played native team sport by adult participation, with 3 percent of adults playing it in the previous seven days according to the Irish Sports Monitor 2023, up from 2 percent in 2022.
The Gaelic Athletic Association organizes the sport through its county club network and runs the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. Kerry’s David Clifford is the game’s most decorated current player, a three time Footballer of the Year.
#7 Dancing
- Share of adults who took part in the sport in the previous seven days: 3% (2023)
Dancing was reported by 3 percent of adults in the Irish Sports Monitor 2023, a figure the report describes as a return to the level recorded in the 2019 survey after a dip during the pandemic years.
The survey records dancing mainly taking place at home or in community halls rather than in sports clubs, distinguishing it from the club based team sports elsewhere in the ranking.
#8 Golf
- Share of adults who took part in the sport in the previous seven days: 3% (Golf Ireland, 2023)
- Best known athlete: Rory McIlroy. Golfer from Holywood who completed the career Grand Slam by winning the 2025 Masters, his fifth major title, becoming the first male European golfer to win all four men’s majors
Golf was played by 3 percent of adults in the previous seven days according to the Irish Sports Monitor 2023, a share the report says exceeded the sport’s 2019 participation level of 2 percent.
Golf Ireland is the sport’s governing body on the island. Rory McIlroy is the country’s most successful current golfer, completing the career Grand Slam of major championships with victory at the 2025 Masters.
Latest Posts about Golf
#9 Yoga
- Share of adults who took part in the sport in the previous seven days: 3% (2023)
Yoga was practiced by 3 percent of adults in the previous seven days in the Irish Sports Monitor 2023, the same share as weights, Gaelic football, dancing and golf that year.
The report finds that more than half of yoga participants do the activity at home rather than in a gym or studio, the highest home participation share of any sport it measures.
#10 Hurling/Camogie
- Share of adults who took part in the sport in the previous seven days: 1% (Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) / Camogie Association, 2023)
- Top national league: All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
- Best known athlete: TJ Reid. Kilkenny forward with seven All-Ireland senior hurling titles and seven All-Star awards, and the highest scoring player in the history of the All-Ireland senior hurling championship
The Irish Sports Monitor 2023 records hurling and camogie together at 1 percent of adults playing in the previous seven days, the smallest share among the sports the survey tracks individually, though the games carry outsized cultural weight in Ireland.
The men’s game is organized by the Gaelic Athletic Association and the women’s game, camogie, by the Camogie Association, founded in Dublin in 1904. Kilkenny’s TJ Reid is hurling’s most decorated current forward, with seven All-Ireland titles.
Sources
- Sport Ireland / Ipsos B&A, Irish Sports Monitor 2023
- Sport Ireland / Ipsos B&A, Irish Sports Monitor 2023 Summary Report
- RTE Sport
- Irish Examiner
- RTE (About RTE)
- Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), checked for any legal designation of a national sport
- GAA.ie
- GAA.ie
- GAA.ie
- The Camogie Association
- Sport Ireland / Ipsos B&A, Irish Sports Monitor 2023 Summary Report
- Sport Ireland / Ipsos B&A, Irish Sports Monitor 2023 Summary Report
- Sport Ireland / Ipsos B&A, Irish Sports Monitor 2023 Summary Report
- Sport Ireland / Ipsos B&A, Irish Sports Monitor 2023 Annual Report
- Sport Ireland / Ipsos B&A, Irish Sports Monitor 2023 Annual Report
- Sport Ireland / Ipsos B&A, Irish Sports Monitor 2023 Summary Report
- Sport Ireland / Ipsos B&A, Irish Sports Monitor 2023 Summary Report
Figures on this page come from national federations and statistics offices and are only as current as their latest published report. Last reviewed: August 2026.
FAQ
What is the most popular sport in Ireland?
In Sport Ireland’s Irish Sports Monitor 2023, the specific sport with the highest adult participation in the previous seven days was swimming, at 8 percent, ahead of running at 7 percent and cycling at 5 percent. Gaelic games, especially hurling, carry outsized cultural weight even though their measured participation share is smaller.
What sports are played in Ireland?
The Irish Sports Monitor 2023 tracks adults playing swimming, running, cycling, soccer, weights training, Gaelic football, dancing, golf, yoga, and hurling or camogie in the previous seven days. Soccer has a League of Ireland Premier Division, while Gaelic football and hurling are organized through the Gaelic Athletic Association’s All-Ireland championships.
What 2 sports is Ireland known for?
Ireland is best known internationally for hurling and Gaelic football, the two Gaelic games organized by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The GAA’s own material describes hurling as the country’s national sport, and hurling has been played on the island for more than 3,000 years.
What is Ireland’s national sport?
There is no law or government decree that designates an official national sport in Ireland. The Gaelic Athletic Association describes hurling as the country’s national sport in its own published material, a status based on tradition rather than legislation.
What sports originated in Ireland?
Hurling has been played in Ireland for more than 3,000 years and was recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage in 2018. Gaelic football’s modern rules were codified when the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded in 1884, and camogie, the women’s code of hurling, was founded in Dublin in 1904.
