Welcome to the Home of the Irish Games Association and Gaelcon

The IGA presents Gaelcon 2024

The Irish Games Association hosts Ireland’s oldest independent gaming convention, Gaelcon. This year, it takes place from October 25-28th, at the Crowne Plaza, Northwood, Dublin 9.

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Logo for Gaelcon 35

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Who are we?

The Irish Games Association CLG is dedicated to promoting gaming in Ireland, by running, supporting and publicising gaming events, while seeking to communicate and cooperate with others that do likewise.

The IGA engages in a number of activities designed to further its stated aim of promoting gaming in Ireland and has evolved substantially over its lifespan. Originally, the IGA was a group composed of different gaming interests from around the country who came together to organise an event known as Gaelcon. Since that time, a number of changes have taken place, and the IGA has expanded into other fields.

The goal of the IGA is to help the gaming community in whatever way possible, be it by organising events, providing information, or offering what assistance it can to others who are working on behalf of the gaming community in Ireland. If you are running an event and need some assistance or some friendly advice please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

News from the IGA

  • Gaelcon Accounts

    We promised transparency as part of moving forward and, as promised, we are presenting the detailed accounts for Gaelcon 2023. We feel that it is important that we share these as it is our biggest event of the year and the biggest financial risk.  The headlines are that Gaelcon in 2023 cost more to run,…

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  • Chairs Report to the AGM, Oct 2023

    2022 was a year of recovery for the IGA, centering on returning to an in-person Gaelcon and embracing a range of new possibilities for future development. At this point, 2023 is less upbeat. On the positive side, there have been significant achievements. We have moved Gaelcon to a bigger venue, and the Warhammer games are…

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  • Call for Charity Lots

    Call for Charity Lots The IGA Charity started as a drunken “no, I want it more” between two slightly intoxicated gamers in a pub many moons ago and since then has grown into something that has a real impact on the lives of many people. This year, the IGA Charity auction will be raising money…

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What is Gaming?

The term ‘gaming’ when used in this context does not refer to gambling or any pastime that involves betting money. For us, “gaming” is a group of different hobbies which share some common links: it’s about having fun, it’s social and it’s a good break from the day-to-day of the real world. Outside of that, there is some contention over what counts as gaming and what doesn’t! The Irish Games Association is primarily involved in organising events involving non-electronic gaming: Boardgames, Collectible Card Games, Tabletop Roleplaying, Live Action Roleplaying and Wargaming.

Roleplaying is a social pastime, based on storytelling and imagining yourself as a character within the story. Wargaming is tactical competition; like a more complicated version of 3D Chess, and includes a wide variety of custom painted miniatures. Collectible Card Games consist of a wide variety, far too many to cover here. There’s a decent article about them on Wikipedia which is a very useful reference!

Ultimately, it’s all about people meeting up with their friends and having fun!

Who we are not

The IGA are not a representative body for the casino/slot machine gaming industry. For information on this please visit the Gaming and Leisure Association of Ireland website.

The IGA are not a representative body for the video games industry. For information on this please visit Imirt the Irish Game Makers Association website.