All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1949

Infobox Hurling All-Ireland
year=1949


team=Tipperary
titles=14th
captain=Pat Stakelum
manager=
munster=Tipperary
leinster=Laois
ulster=Antrim
connacht=
poty=
matches=
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1949 was the 63rd edition of Ireland’s premier hurling knockout competition. The championship ran from May to September of that year, culminating with the All-Ireland final, held at Croke Park, Dublin on 4 September. The match was contested by Tipperary and Laois, with Tipperary taking the title by 3-11 to 0-3. It was the first of three All-Ireland titles in-a-row for Tipperary.

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 Munster Championship advanced directly to the first All-Ireland semi-final.
* The winners of the Leinster Championship advanced directly to the first All-Ireland semi-final.
* The winners of the Ulster Championship advanced directly to the first All-Ireland semi-final where they played the Munster champions.
* 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 Leinster champions.

All-Ireland final

Overview

Sunday 4 September was the date of the 1949 All-Ireland senior hurling final between Tipperary and Laois. It was their first ever meeting in the history of the championship. Tipperary were the superior team in terms of success. They were attempting to capture their 14th All-Ireland crown and a first since 1945. Laois were appearing in the their first championship decider since they won their first All-Ireland crown in 1915.

Match report

At 3:15pm the sliothar was thrown in and a novel All-Ireland final began in earnest. Tipperary, after coming through a tough provincial campaign in Munster, were installed as the favourites over Laois who had surprised everyone by winning the Leinster title. In spite of being one of the minnows of the hurling world Laois stayed with Tipp for much of the first-half and only trailed by 1-5 to 0-3 at half-time. Immediately after the interval Tipperary exerted their force and turned on the style. The Munster men scored a total of 2-6 without reply as Laois were held scoreless for the entire second spell of thirty minutes. Tony Brennan gave an outstanding display of hurling at full-back after moving back into defence from his usual full-forward position. At the full-time whistle Tipperary were the champions on a score line of 3-11 to 0-3.

References

* Corry, Eoghan, "The GAA Book of Lists" (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
* Donegan, Des, "The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games" (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).
* Sweeney, Éamonn, "Munster Hurling Legends" (The O'Brien Press, 2002).

See also