Irish Publications Claim That Notre Dame And Navy Will Return To Dublin Ireland In 2020

An Irish newspaper, The Sunday Business Post is reporting that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Navy Midshipmen will return to Dublin in 2020 for their annual game.

I do not have a subscription to The Sunday Business Post so I can’t say exactly what it says, but several other Irish publications have pointed to the Post’s story as a reference. The Irish Mirror and Dublin LIVE have published the same story:

American football giants Notre Dame are on their way back to the capital for the first time in eight years.

The Ivy League team known as ‘The Fighting Irish’, faced off against rivals Navy in the Aviva Stadium in 2012.

Over 35,000 Americans jetted into the capital for the last game, boosting our economy by up to €60 million, according to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce.

The US Navy even docked a warship in Dublin before the 2012 clash - and sources say they’ll do the same thing again for this match.

And while no date has yet been set, the Sunday Business Post reports that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is likely to announce it as soon as next week.

The game looks set to take place in the autumn of 2020.

Editor’s Note: I take serious issue at the lack of fact-checking by these publications with the remark: “Ivy League team.”

Notre Dame and Navy are currently still scheduled to play the 2020 game at MetLife Stadium as the season-opener.

A game in Dublin as the reports suggest, seems unlikely at the moment, but Jack Swarbrick has said in the past that a game like the one in Ireland would need to be played as the first game of the season.

Notre Dame has played in Ireland twice before — both times against Navy (1996 & 2012). The Irish head to San Diego this week to take on the Middies after a bye week.

This potential story was first brought to our attention by CFB Reddit.