All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1934

Infobox Hurling All-Ireland
year=1934


team=Kilkenny
titles=4th
captain=Timmy Ryan
manager=
munster=Limerick
leinster=Dublin
ulster=
connacht=
poty=
matches=
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1934 was the 48th edition of Ireland’s premier hurling knockout competition. The championship ran from June to September of that year, culminating with the All-Ireland final, held at Croke Park, Dublin on 2 September. The match was contested by Limerick and Dublin, with the game ending in a 2-7 to 3-4 draw. The replay took place on 30 September with Limerick taking the title by 5-2 to 2-6. A special set of All-Ireland medals were presented to mark the golden jubilee of the Gaelic Athletic Association.

Format

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was run on a provincial basis as usual. All games were played on a knockout basis whereby once a team lost they were eliminated from the championship. The format for the All-Ireland series of games ran as follows:
* The winners of the Leinster Championship advanced directly to the All-Ireland final.
* The winners of the Munster Championship advanced directly to a lone All-Ireland semi-final.
* Galway, a team who faced no competition in the Connacht Championship, entered the championship at the All-Ireland semi-final stage where they played the Munster champions.
* There were no representatives from the Ulster Championship in the All-Ireland series.

All-Ireland final

Overview

Sunday 2 September was the date of the 1934 All-Ireland senior hurling final between Limerick and Dublin. It was their first meeting in the championship since the 1921 decider when Limerick were the winners. That was the last time when Limerick claimed the All-Ireland title. Dublin were competing in their first championship decider since 1930 when they lost out to Tipperary. They last won the title in 1927 when they defeated Cork.

Match reports

At 3:15pm the pre-match festivities were completed and the sliothar was thrown in. Both sides were fairly evenly matched coming into the game. Limerick had captured their second Munster title in-a-row and were lining out in a second All-Ireland final. Dublin, on the other hand, had defeated the reigning champions Kilkenny en route to the final and were regarded as one of the fittest teams ever to come out of the province. The 35,000 spectators were treated to an entertaining opening half and Limerick led by a point at the interval. The game was tough as 39 year-old Limerick veteran Bob McConkey was knocked out twice during the game. Two goals by Dave Clohessy seemed to give Limerick the edge as the game entered the last minute. It was then that Dinny O'Neill struck for his second goal of the day to level the match. The referee blew the full-time whistle and the game ended in a draw, Limerick 2-7, Dublin 3-4.

The replay was fixed for the 30 September in Croke Park and Stephen Jordan of Galway officiated once again. In the lead up to the replay Limerick secured the services of Jim ‘Tough’ Barry, the legendary Cork trainer, who urged the team to concentrate on first-time ground hurling. The team plans were in trouble, however, when star goalkeeper Paddy Scanlan was unable to line out due to a poisoned finger. Tom Shinny, Limerick goalkeeper of the past, was drafted into the team as his replacement. The second game of the series saw 30,000 spectators turn up to see another close affair. At half-time both sides were level again. Dublin had three points to Limerick’s solitary goal. The second-half was another tense affair with Dublin leading by a goal with five minutes to go. Team captain Timmy Ryan sent a high ball into the Dublin goalmouth and it went straight to Dave Clohessy. He made no mistake in crashing the sliothar to the net for his third goal of the day. It looked like another draw, however, up stepped Mick Mackey who sent over a point to give Limerick the lead. Momentum was now with Limerick as Jackie O’Connell sent over another point and Dave Clohessy scored his fourth goal of the game. At the final whistle Limerick were the champions on a score line of 5-2 to 2-6.

Drawn game statistics

footballbox
date=1934-09-02
15:15 BST
team1=Limerick
score=2-7 – 3-4
team2=Dublin
report=
goals1=
goals2=
stadium=Croke Park, Dublin
attendance=34,867
referee= Stephen Jordan (Clare)

References

* Corry, Eoghan, "The GAA Book of Lists" (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
* Donegan, Des, "The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games" (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).

ee also