All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1894

Infobox Hurling All-Ireland
year=1894


team=Cork
titles=4th
captain=Stephen Hayes
manager=
munster=Cork
leinster=Dublin
ulster=
connacht=
poty=
matches=
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1894 was the 8th edition of Ireland’s premier hurling knockout competition. The championship ran throughout the whole of 1894 and 1895, culminating with the All-Ireland final, held at Clonturk Park, Dublin on 24 March, 1895. The match was contested by Cork, represented by Blackrock, and Dublin, represented by Rapparees, with Cork taking the title by 5-20 to 2-0. It was Cork's third All-Ireland title in-a-row and their fourth in five years.

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.

Paths to the final

1894 saw only four teams participate in the All-Ireland title race. These teams were Kerry, Tipperary, Cork and Dublin. The draw for the championship took place at the annual convention in Thurles.

Cork

Cork’s passage to the All-Ireland final was relatively easy. The luck of the draw resulted in the team getting a bye into the Munster final. Tipperary defeated Kerry in the lone provincial semi-final by 2-4 to 0-6 to book their place in the Munster decider with Cork. That game took place at Charleville in north Cork and resulted in a 3-4 to 1-2 victory for Cork. This victory allowed Cork to advance directly to the All-Ireland final.

Dublin

Dublin’s passage to the All-Ireland final was even easier than Cork’s. While Cork only had to play one game to be declared provincial champions Dublin were unopposed in Leinster. Because of this they received a bye into the All-Ireland final without playing a single game.

All-Ireland final

Overview

Sunday 24 March, 1895 was the date of the 1894 All-Ireland senior hurling final between Cork and Dublin. It was their first meeting in the championship since the All-Ireland final of 1892 when Cork were declared the winners after Dublin withdrew from the field of play.

Match report

The match referee for the final was J.J. Kenny. Kenny’s choice as referee was an unusual one. As a Dublin resident it seemed unfair that he should be refereeing a game which Dublin were participating in. In spite of this there were no objections from any of the Cork team. The weather on the day was unkind. It was a day of wind, rain and hail and hurling conditions were extremely tough. Cork lined out at the allotted time, however, they had to wait for two hours before the Dublin team arrived. When they did arrive Dublin won the toss and opted to play with the strong wind that was blowing up the field. Cork played a very defensive game of hurling in the opening thirty minutes as they studied their opponents. At half-time and in spite of playing into the wind they led by 2-5 to 2-0. Aided by the wind in the second half Cork ran riot and went on a scoring spree. In the second thirty minute period Cork scored a further 3-15 while Dublin were held scoreless. The finals score of 5-20 to 2-0 gave Cork their third All-Ireland title in-a-row.

tatistics

footballbox
date=1895-03-24
team1=Cork
(Blackrock)
score=5-20 – 0-2
team2=Dublin
(Rapparees)
report=
goals1=
goals2=
stadium=Phoenix Park, Dublin
attendance=c.2,000
referee= J.J. Kenny (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