Analysis: There are many social and cultural factors which explain the psychology of crowd behaviour at the GAA's biggest days out at Croke Park
By Marc Scully, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick
A notable feature of the GAA's showpiece events, such as this month’s All-Ireland finals, is that the crowds are desegregated. Partly due to the idiosyncratic means by which people acquire tickets, it is the norm at such big matches to support your own county in close proximity to rival fans cheering on their county. That this rarely results in crowd trouble is noted with pride by GAA members. It is also something that gets highlighted as a marker of distinctiveness to unfamiliar audiences: for instance, when last year’s hurling final was televised live on the BBC.
As a social psychologist (and a Cork fan), I am interested in the behaviour of the All-Ireland final crowd, and in using crowd psychology to understand it. The psychology of understanding collective crowd behaviour has shifted considerably over the past few decades. Traditional models, based on the late 19th century writing of Gustave Le Bon, saw crowds as inherently irrational and potentially dangerous, with the individuals within prone to losing their own sense of self and moral constraints.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Ray D'Arcy Show, John Dowling discusses the history of Hill 16 at Croke Park
More recent models of crowd psychology do not adopt these assumptions, but rather carefully analyse the dynamics of any particular crowd situation. Such approaches seek to understand the social, political and cultural context, the immediate physical environment, and the motivations, norms of behaviour and identities of all those involved. Psychologists examine the links between these factors, acknowledging that crowd situations are dynamic. The relevant identity and behavioural norms of crowds may change depending on changes in the environment, or perceived threats.
While identities are crucial for understanding crowd behaviour, identity is more fluid than might be generally supposed. We all have multiple identities, but which identities are immediately relevant depends on the situation. Central to crowd behaviour are the collective identities that individuals bring with them to an event and the collective identities that develop over the course of the crowd interaction.
Do the members of the crowd see themselves as sharing a group identity, and who (if anyone), do they see as a threat to that identity? Crucial to the crowd’s subsequent behaviour are the norms associated with these identities: what behaviours are seen as legitimate in the immediate situation? Crowds, therefore, are not inherently positive or negative, joyful or threatening, but context makes them so.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's News at One, Cork GAA CEO Kevin O'Donovan, discusses the scarcity of tickets for next Sunday's All-Ireland hurling final between Cork and Tipperary
Returning to the All-Ireland finals, what are the identities and associated behavioural norms that facilitate a generally positive and friendly crowd experience for the majority of those attending? In my view, alongside the identity of being a supporter of a particular county, there exists a shared identity of being a GAA fan or member, something regularly highlighted before and during the day.
Being a fan of a particular team and a fan of a sport in general are overlapping identities. Solely stressing the former may encourage a norm of hostility to supporters of rival teams, while simultaneously stressing the latter may encourage a norm of seeing rival supporters as also sharing a broader collective identity, leading to more prosocial behaviour.
This dynamic was demonstrated in a study where Manchester United supporters were less likely to help a Liverpool fan in an emergency when encouraged to identify themselves as a United fan specifically, but more likely to do so when encouraged to identify themselves as a football fan in general.
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From RTÉ Archives, Mark Little reports for RTÉ News in 1993 on ambitious plans to turn Croke Park into a world class sports stadium
Furthermore, the social and cultural context of All-Ireland final is that of a national occasion that goes beyond the rival supporters. This is enhanced by the presence of the president, the playing of the national anthem, and the display of the national flag. The GAA leadership also explicitly encourage this national framing, with the organisation's president, Jarlath Burns, stating in his programme notes for the 2024 hurling final that "this is a game that belongs to the people of Ireland".
All these are long-standing features of the All-Ireland final and are largely unremarkable to those in attendance. I draw attention to them to highlight how regularly GAA crowds are reminded that they share a collective identity regardless of their county allegiance. Finally, as noted earlier, the lack of crowd segregation is seen, in itself, as a positive aspect of attending GAA matches. All these factors shape the norms of crowd behaviour at the GAA’s showpiece events: behaviour that threatens the harmony of the desegregated crowd becomes taboo, as it threatens our sense of who we are.
The social and cultural context of All-Ireland final is that of a national occasion that goes beyond the rival supporters.
It is important not to over-romanticise these crowd dynamics. Desegregated crowds at major matches are not unique to the GAA, as rugby fans would point out. It is also worth considering whether desegregated crowds are necessarily preferable in themselves. Are there aspects of positive terrace culture from other sports that are only possible with the more cohesive identity associated with segregated crowds? It is difficult, for instance, to imagine a GAA version of the Icelandic 'Viking thunderclap'.
Analysing the specific psychological dynamics of an All-Ireland crowd is therefore not an attempt to extol the virtues of Gaelic games, or the GAA as an organisation. Rather, doing so gives us an insight into crowd psychology more generally, and allows us to consider the circumstances under which such dynamics might be transferable to other crowd situations.
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Dr Marc Scully is a Lecturer in Psychology at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
