Garth Brooks announced that his tour will take him to Dublin's Croke Park in Ireland for the first time in 17 years, where he will play the "Garth Brooks Comeback Special Event" in July ahead of a world tour slated to begin later this year.

Garth Brooks played two sold-out concerts at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland back in 1997, and now he's returning to get ready for his world tour coming in 2014.

"Before we go back on tour in the Fall of 2014, I want to challenge myself, the band, and crew.

"In '97, [when] we were lucky enough to play Croke Park, the stadium was under construction," Brooks said in a statement, the Los Angeles Times reports. "130,000+ of some of the greatest fans in the world. I was quoted then as saying, 'When this stadium is finished, I would love to come back and try to fill it again... this time to the brink.' ... and we're back to do just that."

Brooks retired from world tours in 2001 to spend more time with his three daughters until each was ready to go to college. Now he's returning to the life of touring, having recently released an eight-disc box set, "Blame It All on My Roots," inspired by his Las Vegas performances. The set reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and has sold more than 800,000 copies in the U.S. since its Nov. 28 release, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Garth Brooks will play Croke Park in Ireland on July 25th and July 26th. Tickets for "The Garth Brooks Comeback Special Event" will go on sale on Jan. 30 at Ticketmaster, and later be available at all ticket outlets nationwide.