A big weekend for hurling in Ireland with provincial finals in Munster and Leinster. In Munster the pairing is a familiar one with Cork playing Limerick in Pairc Ui Chaoimh, while in Croke Park we have only the second Dublin vs. Galway Leinster final. Way back in 1957 Galway applied to play in the Leinster senior hurling championship as there was no real competition in Connacht. Eventually, Galway were allowed to play in Leinster and their first game in the Leinster Championship was against Laois in May 2009. Since then they have qualified for 11 finals, winning the Bob O’Keeffe Cup three times.
Galway probably started the summer as favorites for the Leinster championship, but with Kilkenny’s decline, Offaly’s improvement and Dublin’s shock win over Galway in Salthill on May 16 the landscape changed. The Leinster championship ended with Dublin topping the group with four wins and one draw, against Offaly. Dublin’s win over Kilkenny at Parnell Park was only their second over the Cats in 84 years. Now on Saturday they face Galway again and Dubs supporters will be hoping for a repeat of the heroics of 2013 when they beat Galway by 12 points to win their first Leinster final since 1961.
In the 1940s and ‘50s when hurling legends like Christy Ring, John Doyle and Mick Mackey were the top players in Munster, Semple Stadium, Thurles, was seen as the Mecca for hurling followers. The old Athletic Grounds in Cork also staged some famous finals and the stadium in Ballintemple, now known as Pairc Ui Chaoimh, will be the venue on Sunday when Cork will try to retain the Mick Mackey Cup, which they won for the first time last year when beating Limerick. The Mackey Cup was introduced in 2022 and Limerick won it three times before Cork’s Len Downey got his hands on the cup last year. Limerick will be playing in their 8th consecutive Munster final, but Cork will probably start as favorites after winning all of their four games in the Munster Round Robin series.
With Darragh Fitzgibbons out injured Mark Coleman will captain the Rebels. Limerick, who beat Cork by five points in the National League final in March, lost one championship game, a two-point defeat to Cork at Pairc Ui Chaoimh on April 26. After their collapse in the second half of last year’s All-Ireland final against Tipperary, Cork are determined to go all the way this year and win the MaCarthy Cup for the first time since 2005. Winning on Sunday will give them the more direct route to the final.
Munster GAA passed the 2 million spectator mark for the seven Senior Hurling Round Robin series that have been held since it was introduced in 2018. The average attendance per game since the Round Robin was introduced is 26,750. Meanwhile Leinster is a little bit behind Munster when it comes to attendances at hurling games. Now to celebrate the next generation of GAA players, the Leinster Council is giving up to 20,000 free tickets for underage teams to attend the Leinster final, at Croke Park on Saturday which will be preceded by and Joe McDonagh Cup Final between Carlow and Laois.
