Hill 16 (Croke Park)

Hill 16 (Croke Park)

Hill 16 officially called Dineen/Hill 16 is a terrace on the railway end of Croke Park, the show-piece stadium of the Gaelic Athletic Association in Dublin City, Ireland. It is considered a national icon.

When Croke Park was first used for Gaelic games the Railway End of the park was little more than a mound of earth. Before it was known as Hill 16, it was called Hill 60, because it was a mound measuring 60 metres (200 ft) - like Hill 60, a battle fought in World War I. There is debate over how the terrace became known as Hill 16, however, the most common explanation is that the rubble from the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin was used to build a more permanent terrace at the ground. The Hill has always lagged behind the rest of the stadium in terms of comfort. It was only in 1936, when the Cusack Stand was redeveloped, that the turf and mud of Hill 16 was replaced with concrete terracing.

It was after the 1983 All-Ireland Football Final between Dublin GAA and Galway GAA, where overcrowding on Hill 16 caused a few supporters to suffer injuries, that the GAA decided to rebuild the Hill. This work was completed in 1988, allowing a capacity of 10,000 spectators. In the mid 1990s the GAA came up with a masterplan to rebuild the whole stadium. It was envisaged that Hill 16 would be replaced with an all-seated stand, however, this met with opposition from Dublin supporters. There were also the problems of the nearby railway line and the fact that the GAA doesn't own any of the land behind Croke Park. The plans were redrawn and a new, terraced area was built at a cost of €25 million, to replace the old Nally Stand, named after Pat Nally, and Hill 16. The new Railway End, which includes Hill 16 and the Nally terrace, is capable of holding more than 13,000 spectators.

For most international soccer and rugby matches temporary seating was added to comply with their governing body rules. At every soccer game at the stadium to date, Hill 16 has either had seats added or has remained closed (despite UEFA regulations allowing it to remain open as a terrace for friendly games).

Hill 16 has become synonymous with Dublin supporters, who can often fill the vast majority of it.