All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1891

Infobox Hurling All-Ireland
year=1891


team=Kerry
titles=1st|
captain=John Mahony
manager=
munster=Kerry
leinster=Wexford
ulster=
connacht=
poty=
matches=
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1891 was the 5th edition of Ireland’s premier hurling knockout competition. The championship ran across two years from 1891 until 1892, culminating with the All-Ireland final, held at Clonturk Park, Dublin on 28 February, 1892. The match was contested by Kerry, represented by Ballyduff, and Wexford, represented by Crossabeg, with Kerry taking the title by 2-3 to 1-5. It was Kerry’s first All-Ireland title in hurling history and, as of 2008, it remains their only triumph in the All-Ireland hurling championship.

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:
* There were no All-Ireland semi-finals.
* The winners of the Munster Championship advanced directly to the All-Ireland final.
* The winners of the Leinster Championship advanced directly to the All-Ireland final.
* There were no representatives from Ulster or Connacht in the championship

Overview

Sunday 28 February, 1892 was the date of the 1891 All-Ireland senior hurling final between Kerry and Wexford. It was their first and, to date, their only meeting in the history of the All-Ireland championship.

The game took place at Clonturk Park, ‘the Field of the Boar’, and was the second game of a ‘triple-header’ of games on the day. The first match saw Dublin take on Cavan in the All-Ireland football semi-final. The winners of this game later played Cork in the third game which was the All-Ireland final.

Match report

The referee for the game was Patrick Tobin of Dublin, then honorary secretary of the GAA. He threw in the sliothar to get what would later come to be regarded as a unique All-Ireland final under way. The Kerry players lined out in their bare feet, long trousers and a grey jumper with a gold band. This was a nod to Kerry’s modern jersey which consists of a green jersey and a gold band. In a tough game of hurling Kerry registered the first score of the day after five minutes when Paddy ‘Carr’ Carroll sent the sliothar over the bar for the first point of the day. The game, however, ended in controversy. At full-time the referee said the score was 1-1 apiece. Wexford claimed they had won by a point from a free from the last puck of the game on the score of 1-2 to 1-1. The referee did not give in and said that time was up before the sliothar crossed the line for a point and that he had no authority to extend the game beyond the hour. Kerry, on the other hand, argued that they had won by 1-1 to 0-3, pointing out in the 22nd minute of the second-half Wexford sent the sliothar between the posts for a point but the sliothar rebounded off a spectator and was then sent in for a goal and wrongly recorded as such by the referee. Kerry captain John Mahony was reluctant to let his team play an extra half hour of extra time. It took the persuasion of Tom Slattery, Chairman of the Kerry County Board, to get the team to eventually agree. The third half hour of play saw Kerry emerge as the winners on a score line of 2-3 to 1-5. It was the first and only time that an All-Ireland final was decided after extra time.

tatistics

footballbox
date=1892-02-28
team1=Kerry
(Ballyduff)
score=2-3 – 1-5
team2=Wexford
(Crossabeg)
report=
goals1=
goals2=
stadium=Clonturk Park, Dublin
attendance=c.2,000
referee= Patrick Tobin (Dublin)

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