All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1943

Infobox Hurling All-Ireland
year=1943


team=Cork
titles=14th
captain=Mick Kennefick
manager=
munster=Cork
leinster=Kilkenny
ulster=Antrim
connacht=
poty=
matches=
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1943 was the 57th 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 5 September. The match was contested by Cork and Antrim, with Cork taking the title by 5-16 to 0-4. The game itself saw an Ulster team making their first appearance in an All-Ireland final.

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 All-Ireland final.
* The winners of the Leinster Championship advanced directly to a lone All-Ireland semi-final.
* The winners of the Ulster Championship advanced directly to a lone All-Ireland quarter-final.
* Galway, a team who faced no competition in the Connacht Championship, entered the championship at the All-Ireland quarter-final stage where they played the Ulster champions. The winners of this game advanced to the lone All-Ireland semi-final.

All-Ireland final

Overview

Sunday 5 September was the date of the 1943 All-Ireland senior hurling final between Cork and Antrim. Cork were appearing in their third championship decider in-a-row, having won the title the previous two years with wins over Dublin on both occasions. The final was an historic occasion as Antrim were making their first appearance in an All-Ireland final. Not only that but it was the first time that a team from the northern province of Ulster was lining out in a senior championship decider.

The attendance of 48,843 was the largest to see Cork in an All-Ireland final up to then, and the third highest after the Limerick-Kilkenny games of 1936 and 1940. Unsurprisingly, the bulk of the support favoured Antrim as the entire weekend found Dublin festooned in the green and gold of Antrim. The biggest cheer of All-Ireland final day came when the Antrim hurlers arrived onto the Croke Park sod.

Prior to the throw-in the economic reality of the ‘the Emergency’ was marked by an exchange of gifts between the two teams. The Antrim captain Jimmy Walsh presented some butter to the Cork captain Mick Kennefick, who handed over a quantity of tea to his northern counterpart.

Match report

With the pre-match festivities out of the way the sliothar was thrown in by the Bishop of Down and Connor, Dr. Mageen, and the game was on. Antrim had the disadvantage of playing into the wind for the first-half, however, even this couldn’t account for Cork gaining the upper hand in every part of the field. Seán Condon opened the scoring immediately from the throw-in as Antrim were given a dose of reality after their impressive wins over Galway and Kilkenny. At half-time the game as a contest was over as Cork led by 3-11 to 0-2. The second-half saw the strong wind ease to Cork’s advantage as the rout continued. The second thirty minutes was a mere formality as Cork added on another 2-5. Two further goals for Cork were disallowed, just enough to keep them out of the record books. The final proved to be one game too many for the Glensmen and the final score read Cork 5-16, Antrim 0-4. The gap between junior and senior levels proved too much for Antrim on the day. It would be over 45 years before Antrim would make their second appearance in an All-Ireland final.

tatistics

footballbox
date=1943-09-05
15:15 BST
team1=Cork
score= 5-16 – 0-4
team2=Antrim
report=
goals1=J. Quirke (2-2)
T. O’Sullivan (1-2)
M. Brennan (1-1)
M. Kennefick (1-1)
C. Ring (0-4)
S. Condon (0-3)
J. Lynch (0-2)
C. Cottrell (0-2)
goals2=N. Cambell (0-2)
S. Mullholland (0-2)
stadium=Croke Park, Dublin
attendance=48,843
referee= Dr. J.J. Stuart (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).
* 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