All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1941

Infobox Hurling All-Ireland
year=1941


team=Cork
titles=12th
captain=Connie Buckley
manager=
munster=Tipperary
leinster=Dublin
ulster=
connacht=
poty=
matches=
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1941 was the 55th 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 28 September. The match was contested by Cork and Dublin, with Cork taking the title by 5-11 to 0-6. The game itself saw Cork winning the first of four All-Ireland titles in-a-row.

Format

There was major disruption to the format of the 1941 championship due to a serious outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in many parts of Munster and south Leinster. The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was run on a knockout provincial basis as usual, however, there was a certain amount of tweaking required to cope with the situation.

* The Munster Senior Hurling Championship:
** Limerick defeated Waterford in the semi-final of the competition and qualified for the Munster final. Cork were drawn to meet Tipperary in the second semi-final, however, this game was cancelled by the Munster Council at the behest of the Department of Agriculture. As a result of this it was decided that Cork would play Limerick and the winners would represent Munster in the All-Ireland series.

* The Leinster Senior Hurling Championship:
** It was a similar story in Leinster as foot-and-mouth disease ravaged southern parts of the province. Kilkenny and Dublin had qualified to meet each other in the provincial final, however, Kilkenny were not allowed to travel due to Dept. of Agriculture regulations. As a result of this Dublin were the Leinster representatives in the All-Ireland series.

* The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship:
** The Munster representatives advanced directly to the All-Ireland final.
** The Leinster representatives advanced 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. They were drawn to play the Leinster representatives in the All-Ireland semi-final.

All-Ireland final

Overview

Sunday 28 September was the date of the 1941 All-Ireland senior hurling final between Cork and Dublin. Cork were appearing in their first championship decider since 1939 when they were defeated by Kilkenny in the famous ‘thunder and lightning’ final. They last won the title in 1931 when they defeated ‘the Cats’ after a three-game saga. Dublin were playing in their first championship decider since 1938 when they won the title following a defeat of Waterford. Both Cork and Dublin last met in the championship in the 1928 All-Ireland semi-final when Cork emerged victorious. Dublin last beat Cork in the championship in the 1920 All-Ireland final.

The war-time fuel shortages and restricted rail services meant that a crowd of only 26,150 turned out for the game. Five pipe bands and the Artane boys band provided plenty of music with Seán Ó Síocháin, the Secretary-General of the GAA, leading the singing from the rostrum.

Match report

At 3:15 the sliothar was thrown in and the game was on. Both sides were evenly matched for the opening exchanges and it was Dublin who had the opportunity to take an early lead. Harry Gray missed an early free, resulting in a huge Willie Murphy pick-out away down the field. The sliothar fell within 21 yards of the Dublin posts where Johnny Quirke was waiting. He made no mistake in sending in the sliothar straight in the net for Cork’s first goal. It was the start of another huge glut of Cork scores as the game quickly turned into a rout. Ted O'Sullivan got Cork’s second goal of the game while points came from Christy Ring (0-3) and Jack Barrett (0-2). Jim Young, Ted O’Sullivan and Jack Lynch all got their names on the scoring sheet as they chipped in with a point each. At half-time Cork led by 2-8 to 0-3 and the game was all but over. The rout continued in the second-half with Quirke and O’Sullivan getting two more goals for Cork. Micka Brennan got the fifth of the day to give ‘the Rebels’ a comprehensive 5-11 to 0-6 win.

tatistics

footballbox
date=1941-09-28
15:15 BST
team1=Cork
score= 5-11 – 0-6
team2=Dublin
report=
goals1=
goals2=
stadium=Croke Park, Dublin
attendance=26,150
referee=W.O’Donnell (Tipperary)

Delayed Munster final

There was a post-script to the All-Ireland final in October 1941 when Cork played Tipperary in the long-delayed Munster Championship Final. The All-Ireland champions were trounced by 5-4 to 2-5. hus Cork earned the rare distinction of being ALl-Ireland champions but provincial runners-up. Because of this loss Cork's All-Ireland victory was diminished even further.

References

* Corry, Eoghan, "The GAA Book of Lists" (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
* Donegan, Des, "The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games" (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).
* Horgan, Tim, "Christy Ring: Hurling's Greatest" (The Collins Press, 2007).
* Nolan, Pat, "Flashbacks: A Half Century of Cork Hurling" (The Collins Press, 2000).
* Sweeney, Éamonn, "Munster HUrling Legends" (The O'Brien Press, 2002).

ee also