All-Ireland quarter-finals - all you need to know

If you were planning a nice, quiet trip to Dublin, this weekend is not for you.

While the buzz and colour of All-Ireland quarter-final weekend would normally be sufficient to give the city an early-summer buzz, there is also the small matter of a few Taylor Swift gigs, with some 150,000 fans set to descend on the Aviva Stadium over the three-show run.

The last time the pop megastar graced Ireland, in 2018, she played Croke Park. Her spectacular 'Eras' show will light up Lansdowne Road instead this weekend, with the GAA's headquarters soundtracked by the familiar agony and ecstasy of knockout football.

After an exciting batch of preliminary quarter-finals last week, which produced everything from penalties to big shocks, championship fever is as high as it's been all year with just eight contenders left for the Sam Maguire.

But in the off-chance that Taylor Swift has knocked the football off your timelines this week, here is everything you need to know about the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

All four quarter-finals are at Croke Park:

No. If a draw is required, it will take place on Sunday night.

A draw may or not be required depending on the All-Ireland quarter-final results and whether or not prospective semi-finalists have met one another earlier in the championship or not.

So, if Armagh reach the semi-finals, they cannot face: Donegal, Derry or Galway

If Derry reach the semi-finals, they cannot face: Armagh, Donegal or Galway

If Donegal reach the semi-finals, they cannot face: Armagh or Derry

If Dublin reach the semi-finals, they cannot face: Louth or Roscommon

If Galway reach the semi-finals, they cannot face: Armagh or Derry

If Kerry reach the semi-finals, they cannot face: Louth

If Louth reach the semi-finals, they cannot face: Dublin or Kerry

If Roscommon reach the semi-finals, they cannot face: Dublin

Got all that? Good.

Losing the Ulster final on penalties for the second year running would break a lot of teams.

But not Armagh, who have bounced back commendably from a heartbreaking loss to Donegal in Clones six weeks ago.

Instead of wallowing, the Orchard men dusted themselves off, topped a tough-looking group that included Derry and Galway and are eyeing up a first All-Ireland semi-final since 2005.

But Kieran McGeeney's side will be wary of Roscommon, who went to Healy Park and stunned Tyrone last week.

And while Armagh may be hungry after a 19-year absence from the last four, the Rossies last contested a semi-final in 1991, and avoiding Kerry and Dublin in the draw will have only further buoyed Davy Burke's men.

Armagh have provided their fair share of quarter-final weekend drama over the past couple of years. They lost penalty shootouts to Galway in 2022 and Monaghan last year.

Surely they can't let this one slip past them?

A first championship meeting since 2018, many will have holders Dublin as favourites, although they were pushed all the way by Mayo in their final round-robin game, with Cormac Costello's last-gasp point earning the All-Ireland champions a draw.

Galway's record against the Dubs is less than impressive, though. They have lost their past seven championship encounters and have only won two from 10, the most recent of which came 90 years ago.

The Tribesmen's win over Monaghan last weekend also appeared to come at a price with star forward Shane Walsh limping off. But even if Walsh is absent, the likes of Dylan McHugh, Rob Finnerty and Paul Conroy have all excelled in recent weeks.

The Dubs have a habit of delivering in the latter stages of the championship though. You have to go all the way back to 2009 for the last time they lost a quarter-final.

Last year, they romped to a 2-17 to 0-11 win over Mayo. Galway should provide stiffer resistance, but it is hard to see Dublin's campaign ending on Saturday evening.

Is this going to be Jimmy's year? A slip-up against Cork aside, everything we've seen suggests it could be.

The Ulster champions gave themselves an extra week of training after topping group three and will be strong favourites to reach the semi-finals at Louth's expense.

Donegal last played in the semis in 2014 (the penultimate match of Jim McGuinness' first spell in charge), but they will certainly fancy their chances against Louth, who last reached the semi-finals in 1957.

The Wee County, managed by Ger Brennan, upset Cork in the preliminary quarter-finals to reach this stage for the first time (the quarter-finals did not exist when Louth won their three All-Ireland titles in 1910, 1912 and 1957).

A real tasty quarter-final. Last year, Kerry sauntered past Tyrone and into the semi-finals, but even with Derry's post-league hangover, the Oak Leafers should give the Kingdom a real game here.

Derry and Kerry met in last year's semi-finals, of course, with Jack O'Connor's side doing enough to earn a 1-17 to 1-15 win over the then Ulster champions.

Derry left Tralee with two points in Division One earlier this year but, five months on, this is a much sharper Kerry outfit.

While they escaped Castlebar with a penalty shootout win last week, there is no doubt that the perception of Derry as genuine All-Ireland contenders has been hit by those defeats by Donegal, Galway and Armagh.

Beat Kerry this weekend and that would change. Mickey Harte has masterminded big championship wins over Kerry in the past - can he do it again?

Saturday's two games - Armagh v Roscommon and Dublin v Galway - are being shown on GAAGO.

Sunday's games - Donegal v Louth and Kerry v Derry - will be shown on RTE.