All the transport options GAA fans have for this weekends football semi-finals
All roads lead to Croker this weekend as Kerry take on Tyrone on Saturday and Meath face Donegal on Sunday in the semi-final stages. Many hopeful supporters have booked their bus and train tickets weeks in advance, but some might not be as organised.
With train tickets from Kerry and Sligo (where Donegal fans would travel by rail from) already booked out for the weekend, many supporters may be wondering what their alternative is, apart from making the drive to the capital. All roads lead to Croker this weekend as Kerry take on Tyrone on Saturday and Meath face Donegal on Sunday in the semi-final stages. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Jack O'Connor's Kerry face off Malachy O'Rourke and the Tyrone boys in the first semi-final on Saturday with kick-off at 5pm at Croke Park.
Unfortunately, at the time of writing the all Tralee to Dublin trains are fully booked as is the 7pm Dublin Heuston to Tralee train.
Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae took to social media in recent days, confirming he had been in contact with Irish Rail who said 'they will be providing additional services on the day to accommodate supporters.'
The Junior Minister added that the rail network are currently finalizing details. Extra.ie have since reached out to Irish Rail for more clarity on when the tickets could go on sale for supporters to book.
While there is no Kerry to Dublin bus via Bus Eireann, supporters can get to Dublin via Dublin Coach who on Monday confirmed they have 'increased capacity' on Route 300 on Saturday.
Kerry fans have the option from getting the bus at either Killarney or Tralee, with buses from Tralee at 5.30am and 10.30am.
Times from Killarney include 6.30am; 7.30am; 9.30am and 11.30am.
For returning supporters there are still available tickets for the 8.15pm and 11.15pm buses to Tralee and 7.15pm and 9.15pm back to Killarney.
While Bus Eireann don't cater for Kerry to Dublin, Tyrone supporters may be able to travel via the bus company on Saturday with a number of bus tickets still available from Omagh, which is just ten minutes from the semi-finalists county.
The bus route runs in and around every hour. Those looking to get the bus back to Omagh on Saturday night should book sooner rather than later as the 9.15pm is fully booked. Setas on the 7.15pm is still available. While Bus Eireann don't cater for Kerry to Dublin, Tyrone supporters may be able to travel via the bus company on Saturday with a number of bus tickets still available from Omagh, which is just ten minutes from the semi-finalists county. Pic: Getty Images
In the second semi-final of the All Ireland Football Championships, Meath face Donegal with kick off on Sunday at 4pm at Croke Park.
Extra.ie have contacted Bus Eireann regarding options for Meath supporters travelling to the capital for the semi-final.
Another option Meath fans have is private bus service Collins Coaches, who are not running special buses for the day but have added extra capacity to their regular commuter service. In the second semi-final of the All Ireland Football Championships, Meath face Donegal with kick off on Sunday at 4pm at Croke Park. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
A spokesperson told Extra.ie: 'The 10am and 1pm N2 services from Carrickmacross on Sunday goes through Ardee, Collon, Slane, McGruder's Cross, The Brink, Curtis Cross, Balrath Cross and Rathfeigh Cross to Dublin.
'We plan to get a bit closer than usual by dropping at Mountjoy Square which is a short walk to Croke Park.'
Those looking to travel back to Meath via Collins Coaches on Sunday will have the 5pm; 7.15pm and 8.30pm bus services with the closest stop to Croke Park at Mountjoy Square West (bus stop I.D. 1174).
The company added that their Whitworth Road stop will not be serviced on the day due to safety issues.
For more information and timetables you can go here, with tickets only bought while boarding (cash, card, Leap Card and Free Travel Pass are all accepted).
For Donegal fans still looking to book travel tickets down to Dublin, tickets for the first train at 9.05am are fully booked, though there are tickets for the 11.05am train. There are no train tickets back to Donegal after the match.
The Expressway Donegal to Dublin route has still got plenty of tickets available also, with tickets available for the 5.30am; 7am and 10am Donegal to Dublin bus and return tickets also available on the 9.30pm and 11.00pm services.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
18 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
'No qualms' for Jim McGuinness after Donegal fall short in All-Ireland final
Jim McGuinness admitted he had no complaints in the wake of his Donegal side's All-Ireland SFC final defeat to Kerry. The Ulster men fell short by a 1-26 to 0-19 margin at Croke Park as the Kingdom ran out relatively comfortable winners and denied Donegal the chance to get their hands on Sam Maguire for just the third time in their history. Speaking to RTÉ Sport, McGuinness who was player and manager respectively for Donegal's two previous All-Ireland triumphs, admitted that Kerry were the better team on the day. "Hard one to take. Felt very good going into the game and it didn't turn out that way. Hats off to Kerry, very good performance," he said. "We struggled with wee bits and pieces in the game and paid heavy prices. I suppose, a bigger analysis will probably be first half, I thought both teams were tracking scores well in the first half but Kerry seemed to go after the twos and kicked a lot of them. "David Clifford, I suppose some of them were absolutely exceptional so we have no qualms. We've no qualms at all. "Disappointed for the boys, disappointed for our supporters. They were there with us. They were waiting for things to happen and it didn't happen. Listen, some days, you just have to take it on the chin. "It's just the bottom line. You have to take your medicine and that's what we're going to have to do today." 'No qualms' - Donegal boss Jim McGuinness admits Kerry were rightful winners of today's All-Ireland Football Championship final as his team came up short. #sundaygame — The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 27, 2025 Donegal did manage to get back to within four points of Kerry in the second half but ultimately that was as close as the gap would get between then and the hooter. "One of the times we got it back to four, we had three wides in a row at that stage," McGuinness said. "So even one point there might have made the difference in terms of momentum shift and would have kept you in the game, particularly with the new rules. "There's always that opportunity then. But once them things are sort of drifting on the wrong side of it, then Kerry are always going to respond anyway at certain times. "And then it got away again at the end. As I said earlier, hats off to Kerry. They've come in, they've done the business and we'll have to go home and think about it."
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Non-committal Jack O'Connor ponders management future after guiding Kerry to another All-Ireland title
Jack O'Connor hinted that he might be bringing his management term to an end after guiding Kerry to a fifth All-Ireland title in three different terms. It's a third treble, following on from successes in 2004 and 2022, after National League and Munster Championship victories earlier in the year. "I'm a long time at it, and I might be passing the baton onto somebody else," he said on RTÉ's Sunday Sport. Pushed as to whether that was the end of his third spell in charge, he added: "That was the plan anyway, so we'll see." Asked again in his post-match press conference, the five-time All-Ireland winner seemed non-committal. "I'm on record as saying it's my last hurrah... But there's no hurry." While O'Connor considers his future, he can reflect on All-Ireland number 39 for the game's most successful county. It's a second in four seasons, and with a cohort of players in their 20s in the panel, there's no reason why the current crop can't add more titles in the years to come. "You can't beat panel spirit. We said what happened to Cork last week wouldn't happen to us." Kerry boss Jack O'Connor looks back on winning the final #sundaygame — The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 27, 2025 Kerry burst out of the blocks to take the lead after 13 seconds with a point from Dylan Geaney, with David Clifford's haul of seven points pushing them into a seven-point lead at the break. They always had Donegal at arm's length with Joe O'Connor capping another sensational performance with a goal at the death. And for the manager, it was a performance built on massive spirit within the camp. "If you take the year as a whole, we had a lot of adversity," O'Connor told RTÉ Sport after the game. "We had a lot of injuries, we lost a lot of good men but we had a tremendous panel spirit. "We had men like Mark O'Shea and Seán O'Brien, lads like that that didn't think they'd be near the team, starting midfield in an All-Ireland final for Kerry. "It's the stuff of dreams so I'm delighted for them all. A massive team effort, panel effort, backroom team effort, so I'm thrilled for them all. "We'd two big performances here against Armagh and Tyrone. We felt that we were well tested coming into the game. Maybe the hammering that Donegal gave Meath two weeks ago mightn't have done them the same amount of good that our game with Tyrone did. "We felt we were well tested, we were in great shape leaving the hotel this morning. There was a great atmosphere in the room, just a great anticipation, ready for battle. "The boys fought on their backs out there." Donegal did have periods of momentum in the game but they couldn't get closer than four points in the second half. The gap would have been five at the break only for David Clifford to land a two-pointer with the last kick of the half. "There were times when Donegal looked like they were coming back," O'Connor acknowledged. "I think that two-pointer before half-time was a massive score by David. It was a massive fillip going in at half-time. "We said in the dressing room that what happened Cork last week wasn't going to happen us. We were going to come out and play and we were going to try and win the second half. We did win the second half by three points so overall it was two good halves. "We needed to get our hands on the ball, use up the clock and get a good shot off. Near the end we were able to enjoy the last three or four minutes after Joe got the goal. "I'm thrilled for them all, this was a tough auld year. There were times when we were well tested this year but I'm delighted that it finished like it did."
Irish Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
David Clifford's son Oigi steals the show in All-Ireland celebrations
David Clifford's son Oigi stole the show in the post-game celebrations as Kerry won the 2025 All-Ireland Football Championship. Oigi joined his Dad during Gavin White's speech and was also present for David's post-game interview with RTE. The youngster stole the show as he playfully interacted with the panel and as star midfielder Joe O'Connor was speaking to Joanne Cantwell, the RTE present joked: "Joe, there's a fella here trying to steal your limelight!" A proud Oigi held his Dad's hand during the interview before going off to join the celebrations in front of Hill 16. Kerry's David Clifford celebrates with his son Ogie Clifford would go on to score 0-09 during the final as he cements himself as one of the game's true greats. "We won the All-Ireland here in 2022 with a lot of the same team, and maybe you fall into the trap of thinking it's going to happen every year," the sharp-shooting forward told RTE. "Personally, dealing with the disappointment of 2023 and obviously least year losing out to Armagh as well we put a massive emphasis of getting back this year without every actually mentioning the All-Ireland. "One performance at a time is what we said and we tried to stick to it. We had to reevaluate after the Meath game but we're massively proud how we came back after the Meath game." Clifford was asking about the team feeling disrepsected and said that Kerry couldn't avoid the noise. "Absolutely, I don't think anyone goes out to read articles or anything like that but they'll get to you. Obviously, no one likes it but it's no good feeling sorry for yourself. You have to go out and prove that they are wrong. As good as our last two performances were, if we didn't get over the line, it would have been all for nothing."
