Since the introduction of the Senior Hurling Championship’s ‘back door’ in 1997, there have been eight All-Ireland finals that pitted teams from the same province against each other. This includes five instances of an all-Munster final and three of an all-Leinster final, with Galway’s Leinster Championship appearances being counted.
To provide specific examples, these matched were seen in 1997 between Clare and Tipperary, 1998 and 2000 with Offaly and Kilkenny, 2013 with Clare and Cork, 2015 with Kilkenny and Galway, and 2020 and 2021 with Limerick in contest with Waterford and Cork respectively.
On ten occasions since 1997, the hurling final featured teams from bordering counties, while football saw such instances only thrice during the same time span–2003 with Tyrone and Armagh, and 2007 and 2009 with Kerry and Cork.
This year will mark the seventh consecutive time the Liam MacCarthy Cup will winter in Munster, a sequence not seen since 1954 when Waterford, Tipperary, and Cork were the victors in the period of 1948 to 1954.
Since their last victory in 2005, Cork have found themselves on the losing side three times in All-Ireland finals, namely in 2006 versus Kilkenny, 2013 against Clare in a replay, and recently in 2021 against Limerick.
The same number, three, also signifies the number of All-Ireland senior finals officiated by Clare’s manager Brian Lohan, in 1995 against Offaly, 1997 against Tipperary, and 2002 against Kilkenny.
Lastly, Johnny Murphy has refereed for 17 bouts in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. The upcoming final will be his 18th milestone.
The gentleman from Limerick belongs to the Ballylanders club and has been the referee in the All-Ireland minor and under-20 finals in 2018 and 2021 respectively. In addition, he officiated at the Leinster final in 2021, as well as the All-Ireland club final in 2023.
Supporting him on the day will be linesmen Michael Kennedy of Tipperary and Galway’s Liam Gordon, the latter also serving as an auxiliary referee. Chris Mooney from Dublin will officiate from the side-lines. The umpires appointed for Murphy include Micheal Meade, James Hickey, Jimmy Barry Murphy, all hailing from Ballylanders and Andy Dooley from Garryspillane.
Patrick Horgan tops the year’s championship scoring chart with 4-62, being the maximum scorer for either team prior to this Sunday. Combining free-kicks, open play and penalties, Horgan’s tally accumulates to a significant lead. Clare’s top scorer Aidan McCarthy trails with a total of 1-53, much of it gained from free-kicks and a single 65.
The player who has scored the most during open play is none other than David Fitzgerald of the Banner, who’s managed 2-18. Cork’s top scorers in this category are Alan Connolly (4-10), Darragh Fitzgibbon (0-22) and Shane Barrett (2-16), all tied.
The 1995 Munster semi-final, hosted in Limerick, between these teams had an attendance of 14,101. Clare emerged victorious leading to both Munster and All-Ireland titles. The current year sees a rush for tickets in Clare as well as Cork, abnormally so compared to previous years. Even viewing parties are out of tickets in Leeside.
In his telling documentation of the 1990s hurling season, ‘Hurling: The Revolution Years’, Denis Walsh recounts how the shortfall in crowd numbers could be attributed to a lack of support from Cork due to team performance issues and Clare’s scepticism.
In the 61 championship encounters that have previously taken place between Cork and Clare, the former, known as the Rebels, lead with a tally of 40-16 with five matches ending in a draw.
The Banner bested the teams on two occasions this year, once in the league by a margin of three points and then in the Munster Championship with a two point lead. Intriguingly, their last engagement in the All-Ireland final in 2013 was distinctive as it did not involve a provincial champion defending their title.
The total capacity for the final stands at 82,006. As stated in the most recent annual report by Ard Stiurthoir Tom Ryan, the allocation for the counties last year was 57,449, with the remaining seats distributed using various metrics. For instance, 200 tickets were given to local inhabitants, 1,200 to sponsors, 78 to jubilee teams, 148 to match officials and the National Referees Panel, and 974 to Ard Comhairle and Past Presidents.