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Caid - an ancient Irish football game

Caid refers to some ancient and traditional Irish Football games. Now, it is used by Irish people to refer to modern Gaelic Football. Caid referred to the ball which was used in the game. It was made of animal skin with a natural bladder inside.

In the 19th century, Father W. Ferris said that Caid had to main forms: the field game and the cross country game. The objective of the field game was to put the ball through arch-like goals, these arched-like goals were formed from boughs of trees.

The objective of the cross country game was for the teams to get the ball across the parish boundary. The cross country game was believed to be played in the daylight hours of a Sunday. These games were usually played by a huge number of players. It is believed that Caid influenced the rules of the modern Gaelic Football.

There are some records that state that the Irish Diaspora introduced Caid to various places around the world. Australian rules football is said to have been inspired by Caid.



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