Croke Park to host largest Eid ever on Saturday

Worshippers must bring own prayer mats so as not to damage pitch ahead of games later that day

Hundreds attended the Muslim celebration of Eid in Croke Park Stadium, for the third year in a row.

On Eid al-Adha, also known as the Feast of Sacrifice, Muslims remember Abraham and his willingness to sacrifice his son for God.

It is one of the most important festivals in the Muslim calendar and follows the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

Up to 1,000 worshippers will line up on the playing surface, but Shaykh Umar al-Qadri, the chair of the Irish Muslim Council which is organising the event, emphasised that “those wishing to pray must bring their own prayer mats to avoid damage to the pitch”.

Eid al-Adha 2022 makes it a three-in-a-row at Croke Park for Ireland’s Muslim community with the first held during the pandemic in 2020 when Covid-19 restrictions meant they could not gather for Eid prayers in an indoor setting such as a mosque, as normal. Following a request to the GAA, they were allowed use Croke Park in July of that year and this has now become an annual event.

Shaykh al-Qadri said it was “a matter of great joy for us at the Irish Muslim Council and the wider Irish Muslim community to know that this iconic event can remain a fixture, and reminds us that the GAA truly is a place where we all belong”.

Eid al-Adha also celebrates the faith of Abraham. It is the second major annual festival in Islam, after Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the month-long fast that is Ramadan.

Sources : RTÉ News , Irish Times, Independent