Munster Minor Hurling Championship

Munster Minor Hurling Championship

Founded	1928
Region	Munster (GAA)
Number of teams	5
Current champions	Clare (4th time)
Website	Official website

The Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1928 for the youngest competitors (under-18) in the province of Munster in Ireland. It is sponsored by the Electricity Supply Board and therefore officially known as the ESB Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship.

The series of games are played during the summer months with the Munster final currently being played on the second Sunday in July. The minor final provides the curtain-raiser to the senior final. The prize for the winning team is an unnamed cup that was first presented in 1946 by TWA. The championship had always been played on a straight knockout basis whereby once a team lost they are eliminated from the series; however, in recent years the championship has expanded to include a first-round losers’ group.

The Munster Championship is an integral part of the wider GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship. The winners of the Munster final, like their counterparts in the Leinster Championship, are rewarded by advancing directly to the semi-final stage of the All-Ireland series of games. The losers of the Munster final enter the All-Ireland series at the quarter-final stage.

Five teams currently participate in the Munster Championship. Two of the most successful teams in minor hurling, namely Cork and Tipperary, play their provincial hurling in the Munster Championship. Between them, these teams have won the provincial title on 68 occasions during its history while they have also claimed 36 All-Ireland titles.

The title has been won at least once by five of the six Munster counties, all of which have won the title more than once. Kerry hold the distinction of never having won the provincial title. The all-time record-holders are Clare, who have won the competition 3 times.

Format

The Munster Minor Championship was always played as a knockout tournament with pairings drawn at random – there were no seeds. In recent years the knockout element of the championship has been diminished with the introduction of a ‘back-door system’ for the first-round losers.

Each championship match is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn there is a replay. Drawn replays are now settled with extra time, however, if both sides are still level at the end of extra time a second replay takes place and so on until a winner is found.

The current format works as follows. An open draw is made with four of the five teams paired against each other in two lone quarter-finals. The fifth team is given a buy into one of the semi-finals. The winners of the two quarter-finals advance to the semi-final stages and are paired on opposite sides. The losers of the two quarter-finals play each other in a single play-off game, the loser of which is eliminated from the championship with the winner advancing to join the other three teams in the semi-finals. The competition operates as a straight knockout from this point on.

The Munster Minor Championship has wider implications for the GAA All-Ireland Hurling Minor Championship. The winners of the Munster final automatically qualify for the semi-final stages of the All-Ireland series of games while the runners-up qualify for the quarter-final stages.

Since 2010 all six counties of Munster – Clare, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford and Kerry – participate in the championship. Kerry had not participated in the Munster Minor Championship since 2006 but after some underage rebuilding they re-entered in 2010.

Trophies

At the end of the Munster final, the winning team is presented with a trophy. The untitled cup is held by the winning team until the following year's final. Traditionally, the presentation is made at a special rostrum in the stand where GAA and political dignitaries and special guests view the match.

The cup is decorated with ribbons in the colours of the winning team. During the game the cup actually has both teams' sets of ribbons attached and the runners-up ribbons are removed before the presentation. The winning captain accepts the cup on behalf of his team before giving a short speech. Individual members of the winning team then have an opportunity to come to the rostrum to lift the cup.

The present trophy was first presented in 1946 when it was donated by Trans World Airlines at Shannon Airport.

General statistics

Performance by county

	County	Won	Runner-up	Years won	Years runner-up
1	Tipperary	36	22	1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1967, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1973, 1976, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007	1929, 1936, 1941, 1948, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1992, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009
2	Cork	32	12	1928, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1951, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008	1930, 1933, 1935, 1946, 1961, 1962, 1987, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007
3	Limerick	5	19	1940, 1958, 1963, 1965, 1984	1937, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1959, 1967, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1989, 1991, 2000, 2005
4	Waterford	4	12	1929, 1948, 1992, 2009	1928, 1931, 1934, 1947, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1968, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2010, 2011
5	Clare	4	11	1981, 1989, 2010, 2011	1932, 1939, 1940, 1945, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1971, 1990, 1997, 1999
6	Kerry	0	1		1938

Biggest Munster final wins

• The most one sided Munster finals:
  • 33 points – 1950: Tipperary 12–3 (39) – (6) 2–0 Clare
  • 32 points – 1952: Tipperary 10–7 (37) – (5) 1–2 Clare
  • 32 points – 1945: Tipperary 8–10 (34) – (2) 0–2 Clare
  • 31 points – 1938: Cork 9–4 (31) – (0) 0–0 Kerry
  • 25 points – 1939: Cork 8–3 (27) – (2) 0–2 Clare
  • 24 points – 1956: Tipperary 10–10 (40) – (16) 4–4 Waterford
  • 24 points – 1955: Tipperary 8–11 (35) – (11) 2–5 Waterford
  • 24 points – 1929: Waterford 7–5 (26) – (2) 0–2 Tipperary
  • 23 points – 1961: Tipperary 7–11 (32) – (9) 1–9 Cork
  • 23 points – 1940: Limerick 8–3 (27) – (4) 0–4 Clare

Miscellaneous

• Jimmy Doyle of Tipperary holds the record of being the only player to win four consecutive Munster minor winners’ medals. This victories came in 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957.

• Cork hold the record for the longest streak of success. For seven championship season between 1966 and 1972 the county failed to lose a game and won seven Munster titles in-a-row.

• Tipperary hold the record for the most consecutive appearances in Munster finals. They played in nine-in-a-row between 1980 and 1988, not including a replay in 1986, with success coming on four of those occasions.

• Clare lost eight Munster finals before they won their first in 1981.

• Four counties have completed the minor and senior double in the same year:
  • Cork in 1928, 1939, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1985, 1986, 1990, 2000, 2005, 2006
  • Tipperary in 1930, 1945, 1949, 1950, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1987, 1991, 1993, 2001
  • Limerick in 1940
  • Waterford in 1948

• Cork is the only county to have completed the minor, under-21 and senior treble in the same year. These feats were achieved in 1966, 1969, 1970, 1975, 1977 and 2005.

• Cork is the only county to have completed the minor, under-21, intermediate and senior 'grand slam' in the same year. This was achieved in 2005.

• Five players have captained their counties to Munster titles in both the minor and senior grades:
  • Seán Condon captained Cork to the minor title in 1941 and the senior title in 1944.
  • Pat Stakelum captained Tipperary to the minor title in 1945 and the senior title in 1949.
  • Tony Wall captained Tipperary to the minor title in 1952 and the senior titles in 1958 and 1960.
  • Jimmy Doyle of Tipperary captained Tipperary to the minor title in 1957 and the senior titles in 1962 and 1965.
  • Michael O'Meara captained Tipperary to the minor title in 1987 and the senior title in 1993.

• Three players have captained their counties to Munster titles in both the minor and under-21 grades:
  • Anthony O'Riordan captained Limerick to the minor title in 1984 and the under-21 title in 1986.
  • Diarmaid FitzGerald captained Tipperary to the minor title in 2001 and the under-21 title in 2004.
  • Shane O'Neill captained Cork to the minor title in 2004 and the under-21 title in 2007.

List of Munster Finals

	All-Ireland champions
	All-Ireland runners-up

Year	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Score	Venue	Winning Captain
1928	Cork	3–4 (13)	Waterford	3–2 (11)	Gaelic Grounds	Chris Duggan
1929	Waterford	7–5 (26)	Tipperary	0–2 (2)	Fraher Field	Paddy Donnelly
1930	Tipperary	4–3 (15)	Cork	3–0 (9)		Jack Russell
1931	Tipperary	6–5 (23)	Waterford	6–3 (21)	Clonmel	William O'Neill
1932	Tipperary	7–8 (29)	Clare	3–0 (9)	Thurles Sportsfield	Denis O'Gorman
1933	Tipperary	3–1 (10)	Cork	2–2 (8)	Cork Athletic Grounds	Joe Fletcher
1934	Tipperary	3–6 (15)	Waterford	0–5 (5)	Cork Athletic Grounds	Phil Dwyer
1935	Tipperary	4–3 (15)	Tipperary	2–1 (7)		Con Maher
1936	Cork	6–5 (23)	Tipperary	1–4 (7)
1937	Cork	8–4 (28)	Limerick	3–2 (11)		Mick Goggin
1938	Cork	9–3 (30)	Kerry	0–0 (0)		Kevin McGrath
1939	Cork	8–3 (27)	Clare	0–2 (2)	Thurles Sportsfield	Teddy Barry
1940	Limerick	8–3 (27)	Clare	0–4 (4)	Thurles Sportsfield	Paddy McCarthy
1941	Cork	4–6 (18)	Tipperary	3–3 (12)	Gaelic Grounds	Seán Condon
1942–44	No championship
1945	Tipperary	8–10 (34)	Clare	0–2 (2)		Pat Stakelum
1946	Tipperary	5–6 (21)	Cork	4–2 (14)	Thurles Sportsfield	Paddy Kenny
1947	Tipperary	2–4 (10)	Waterford	1–2 (5)	Thurles Sportsfield	Paddy Kenny
1948	Waterford	3–6 (15)	Tipperary	0–3 (3)	Thurles Sportsfield	Mick Flannelly
1949	Tipperary	5–6 (21)	Clare	5–5 (20)	Cork Athletic Grounds	John O'Grady
1950	Tipperary	12–3 (39)	Clare	2–0 (6)	FitzGerald Stadium	Gerry Doyle
1951	Cork	5–11 (26)	Limerick	1–3 (6)	Gaelic Grounds	Johnny Clifford
1952	Tipperary	10–7 (37)	Clare	1–2 (5)	Gaelic Grounds	Tony Wall
1953	Tipperary	3–11 (20)	Limerick	3–3 (12)	Gaelic Grounds	Billy Quinn
1954	Tipperary	3–5 (15)	Limerick	2–3 (9)	Gaelic Grounds	Larry Quinn
1955	Tipperary	8–11 (35)	Waterford	2–5 (11)	Gaelic Grounds	Ray Reidy
1956	Tipperary	10–10 (40)	Waterford	4–4 (16)	Thurles Sportsfield	Pat Ryan
1957	Tipperary	3–8 (17)	Limerick	1–4 (7)	Thurles Sportsfield	Jimmy Doyle
1958	Limerick	8–9 (33)	Waterford	2–5 (11)	Thurles Sportsfield	Paddy Cobbe
1959	Tipperary	5–8 (23)	Limerick	1–4 (7)	Thurles Sportsfield	Larry Kiely
1960	Tipperary	6–7 (25)	Cork	4–3 (15)	Thurles Sportsfield	John O'Donoghue
1961	Tipperary	7–11 (32)	Cork	1–6 (9)	Gaelic Grounds	Noel Hogan
1962	Tipperary	4–11 (23)	Cork	4–1 (13)	Gaelic Grounds	Michael 'Babs' Keating
1963	Limerick	4–12 (24)	Tipperary	5–4 (19)	Gaelic Grounds	Éamonn Cregan
1964	Cork	2–14 (20)	Tipperary	2–9 (15)	Gaelic Grounds	Kevin Cummins
1965	Limerick	5–5 (20)	Tipperary	3–9 (18)	Gaelic Grounds	Michael O'Flaherty
1966	Cork	6–7 (25)	Galway	2–8 (14)	Gaelic Grounds
1967	Cork	4–10 (22)	Limerick	0–3 (3)	Gaelic Grounds	Pat Moylan
1968	Cork	7–8 (29)	Waterford	4–2 (14)	Gaelic Grounds	Denis McCarthy
1969	Cork	1–12 (15)	Tipperary	2–4 (10)	Gaelic Grounds	Seán Collins
1970	Cork	3–8 (17)	Tipperary	4–4 (16)	Gaelic Grounds	Pat Kavanagh
1971	Cork	6–13 (31)	Clare	3–5 (14)	FitzGerald Stadium	Séamus Coughlan
1972	Cork	4–11 (23)	Limerick	0–3 (3)	Semple Stadium
1973	Tipperary	5–12 (27)	Limerick	5–4 (19)	Semple Stadium	Michael McCormack
1974	Cork	3–7 (16) 2–11 (17)	Tipperary	2–10 (16) 2–7 (13)	Semple Stadium .	Billy Geaney
1975	Cork	3–16 (25)	Tipperary	1–7 (10)	Gaelic Grounds	Tom Cashman
1976	Tipperary	5–10 (25)	Limerick	5–6 (21)	Páirc Uí Chaoimh	Joe Hogan
1977	Cork	2-08 (14)	Limerick	2-07 (13)	Semple Stadium	S. Hayes
1978	Cork	1–14 (17)	Tipperary	3–6 (15)	Semple Stadium	Pat Murphy
1979	Cork	3–17 (26)	Limerick	4–4 (16)	Semple Stadium	Christy Coughlan
1980	Tipperary	1–17 (20)	Limerick	1–4 (7)	Semple Stadium	Jim Maher
1981	Clare	3–13 (22)	Tipperary	3–11 (20)	Semple Stadium	John Lynch
1982	Tipperary	1–10 (13)	Limerick	1–7 (10)	Semple Stadium	John Kennedy
1983	Tipperary	3–15 (24)	Limerick	2–8 (14)	Semple Stadium	P.J. Lanigan
1984	Limerick	3–6 (15)	Tipperary	2–7 (13)	Semple Stadium	Anthony O'Riordan
1985	Cork	1–13 (16)	Tipperary	1–8 (11)	Páirc Uí Chaoimh	Michael O'Mahony
1986 (R)	Cork	3–10 (19) 2–11 (16)	Tipperary	2–13 (19) 1–11 (14)	FitzGerald Stadium .	Kieran Keane
1987	Tipperary	2–11 (17)	Cork	1–9 (12)	Semple Stadium	Michael O'Meara
1988	Cork	5-07 (22)	Limerick	1-02 (5)	Gaelic Grounds	K. O'Brien
1989	Clare	2–13 (19)	Limerick	2–12 (18)	Páirc Uí Chaoimh	Pat Lee
1990	Cork	1-09 (12)	Clare	0-09 (9)	Semple Stadium	Peter Smith
1991	Tipperary	4-07 (19)	Limerick	1-05 (8)	Páirc Uí Chaoimh	Adrian Hogan
1992 (R)	Waterford	4–7 (19) 2–10 (16)	Tipperary	3–10 (19) 0–14 (14)	Semple Stadium .	Paddy O'Donnell
1993	Tipperary	1–12 (21)	Cork	1–9 (12)	Gaelic Grounds	Kevin Tucker
1994	Cork	2–15 (21)	Waterford	0–9 (9)	Semple Stadium	Brian Hurley
1995	Cork	3–18 (27)	Waterford	0–10 (10)	Semple Stadium	Brian O'Keeffe
1996	Tipperary	2–19 (25)	Waterford	1–11 (14)	Gaelic Grounds	William Maher
1997	Tipperary	2–13 (19)	Clare	1–13 (16)	Páirc Uí Chaoimh	Donnacha Fahy
1998	Cork	3–13 (22)	Clare	0–8 (8)	Semple Stadium	Cathal McCarthy
1999	Tipperary	1–13 (16)	Clare	2-07 (13)	Semple Stadium	Damien Young
2000	Cork	2–19 (25)	Limerick	1–10 (13)	Semple Stadium	Mark O'Connor
2001	Tipperary	1–13 (16)	Cork	1-06 (9)	Páirc Uí Chaoimh	Diarmaid FitzGerald
2002	Tipperary	3-07 (16)	Cork	2-07 (13)	Páirc Uí Chaoimh	Patrick McCormack
2003	Tipperary	2–12 (18)	Cork	0–16 (16)	Semple Stadium	David Morrissey
2004	Cork	2–13 (19)	Tipperary	3-08 (17)	Semple Stadium	Shane O'Neill
2005	Cork	2–18 (24)	Limerick	1–12 (15)	Páirc Uí Chaoimh	Pa Cronin
2006	Cork	2–20 (26)	Tipperary	1–15 (18)	Semple Stadium	Patrick Horgan
2007	Tipperary	0–18 (18)	Cork	1–11 (14)	Semple Stadium	Brendan Maher
2008	Cork	0–19 (19)	Tipperary	0–18 (18)	Gaelic Grounds	Daniel Roche
2009	Waterford	0–18 (18)	Tipperary	1–13 (16)	Semple Stadium	Martin O'Neill
2010	Clare	1–16 (19)	Waterford	1–11 (14)	Semple Stadium	Paul Flanagan
2011	Clare	1–20 (23)	Waterford	3–09 (18)	Páirc Uí Chaoimh	Tony Kelly

See also