Irish Warriors
The Irish national team was formed to compete in the Atlantic Alliance Cup in 2001 which it won to become the northern hemisphere champions.
The Irish national team was first nicknamed "Fianna na hÉireann" (Irish for "Fianna of Ireland") after a band of heroic warriors in Irish mythology.
The team wears a green (one of the national colours of Ireland) jumper with a Celtic strip featuring the Irish harp symbol.
In the following year, the team participated in the inaugural Australian Football International Cup and finished first, leaving the competition as international champions. The team benefitted from the availability of several Gaelic football players.
In 2005, Ireland under the new nickname "Green Machine" finished 4th. An increasingly competitive New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the United States of America finished ahead of Ireland and the team suffered from injury and the Gaelic Athletic Association discouraging the use of Gaelic players.
The Irish team has featured former VFL/AFL player Brian Stynes, brother of AFL champion ruckman Jim Stynes.
The best and fairest player (from the 2005 International Cup) for the Irish was Mike Finn.
In 2006, the Irish team played a curtain raiser at the West Coast Eagles vs Fremantle exhibition match at the Oval in London where they beat the British Bulldogs.
In 2008 Ireland finished fourth at the International Cup in Melbourne, following a controversial loss to South Africa.
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