1901 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1901 was the 15th edition of Ireland’s premier hurling knockout competition. The championship ran across three years from 1901, 1902 and 1903, culminating with the All-Ireland final, held at Jones’s Road, Dublin on 2 August, 1903. The match was contested by London, represented by a selection of their best players, and Cork, represented by Redmond’s, with London taking the title by 1-5 to 0-4. It was London’s first and, to date, their only All-Ireland title.

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 Leinster Championship advanced directly to the first All-Ireland semi-final.
• The winners of the Ulster Championship advanced directly to the first All-Ireland semi-final where they played the Leinster champions.
• The winners of the Munster Championship advanced directly to the second All-Ireland semi-final.
• The winners of the Connacht Championship advanced directly to the second All-Ireland semi-final where they played the Munster champions.
• The winners of the two All-Ireland semi-finals played each other in the ‘home’ All-Ireland final.
• As a gesture to the exiled hurlers, London received a bye to the official All-Ireland final where they played the winners of the ‘home’ final.

Sunday 2 August, 1903 was the date of the 1901 All-Ireland senior hurling final between London and Cork. It was London’s second consecutive appearance in the championship decider, having been beaten by Tipperary in 1900. Cork, on the other hand, were appearing in their first All-Ireland final since 1894 when they defeated Dublin. Both sides were meeting in the championship for the first time.

The All-Ireland final was refereed by John McCarthy of Kilkenny who got the game under way when he threw in the sliothar. Cork won the toss and decided to play with the wind for the opening thirty minutes. They launched attack after attack; however, they were repelled by captain Jack Coughlan who sent a long puck to touch. From the line puck the Londoners came back and got a point inside a minute. Both side engaged in some tough battles all over the pitch for the next period, however, Cork came back and equalized shortly afterwards. Cork kept up the pressure and took the lead with another point. Play was suspended soon after this when a London player received an injury, however, after the resumption London attacked the Cork goalmouth again and registered another point. At half-time the sides were level. The second period saw both sides display some great hurling qualities, however, London were the better side. Their strength allowed them to burst through to score the deciding goal. At the full-time whistle the Londoners took the All-Ireland title by 1-5 to 0-4. London captain Jack Coughlan was chaired off the field. After leaving the dressing-room he was chaired from there all the way back to his hotel.

• 60 minutes.
• Replay if scores level.

• Corry, Eoghan, The GAA Book of Lists (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
• Donegan, Des, The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).