Section 5: Rules of Play
Duration. A senior inter-county adult game lasts 70 minutes, played in two halves of 35 minutes. The majority of adult club competitions are played over 60 minutes, in two halves of 30 minutes — the default under Rule 3.2 (Time), with the 70-minute form its stated exception for Inter-County Senior Championship, National League and Tournament games. Games at inter-county level are managed under a centralised game clock and hooter system introduced under the 2026 permanent rules, under which the referee stops the official clock whenever the ball goes dead, and the hooter sounds to signal the end of each half once the allotted playing time has elapsed and the ball is next dead.
Playing the ball. A player may kick the ball, or strike it with a clenched fist or the open hand (a "hand-pass"), but may not throw it. The ball may be carried in the hand(s) for a maximum of four consecutive steps, after which it must be released by a kick, a hand-pass, a bounce off the ground back into the hand(s), or a "solo," in which the ball is dropped or tapped onto the foot and kicked back up into the hand(s). A player may not bounce the ball twice in succession without an intervening solo, kick, or hand-pass (Rule 1.4; throwing the ball and an illegal handpass are fouls under Rule 4.2).
The tackle. A player in possession may be fairly challenged by a shoulder-to-shoulder charge directed at the area of the body between shoulder and hip, provided both players are moving toward the ball or are in a position to play it. Pulling or holding an opponent's jersey or body, tripping, and the "third-man tackle" (two or more players tackling simultaneously in a manner that denies the player in possession a fair opportunity to play the ball) are prohibited and penalised as fouls (Rule 1.9 permits only the shoulder-to-shoulder charge; behaviour dangerous to an opponent is a foul under Rule 5.19).
The mark. A Mark is awarded in two circumstances (Rule 2.12). A Kick Out Mark is awarded when a player catches the ball cleanly from a kick-out, without it touching the ground, on or past the 45m line nearest the kick-out point (Rule 2.12(i)). An Advanced Mark is awarded when a player catches the ball cleanly on or inside the 20m line, without it touching the ground, from a kick in play or from a kick-out mark delivered by an attacking player on or beyond the opposing team's 45m line (Rule 2.12(ii)). A player availing of the free kick signifies it by immediately raising an arm upright and then kicks from the hands, with up to fifteen seconds to take it while opponents retreat 13m (Rule 2.12(a)).
Kickouts. When the ball is played over the end line by the team attacking that end, or after a score, play restarts with a kick-out off the ground from the centre point of the 20m line, kicked forward (Rule 2.7(a)). If the goalkeeper is not taking it, the goalkeeper stays in the small rectangle. Other players may remain inside the 20m line and the 40m arc but must be at least 13m from the ball until it is kicked, and the ball must travel outside both the 40m arc and the 20m line before another player of the defending team may play it (Rule 2.7(a)). A player in direct receipt of the kick-out may not pass it back to their goalkeeper or to the kick-taker without another player playing the ball (Rule 2.7(c)).
The "solo-and-go." Where a free is awarded outside the opposition's 20-metre line, the fouled player (or a nearby teammate) may take the free immediately by soloing the ball and playing on, without waiting for the referee's whistle, provided the foul was not accompanied by a card. Opponents must retreat at least 4 metres from the mark of the free; challenging a player taking a Solo and Go within four metres of where it is taken is a foul, penalised by advancing the free 50m (Rule 2.5(c), Rule 2.6(ii) and Rule 4.37).
Throw-in. Play begins at the start of each half with a throw-in contested between one nominated player from each team at the centre of the pitch; no other player may enter the contest for the ball until it has been played by one of the two contesting players; a second player from each team stands on opposite sidelines at the halfway line (Rule 2.1).