History of The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship - 1889 To 1891 - The Championship Gathers Momentum

The Championship Gathers Momentum

In 1889 Clare won the very first Munster final before taking on Dublin in the All-Ireland final. The Clare men, who played in their bare feet, took a 1-5 to 1-0 lead at the interval in atrocious weather conditions. W.J. Spain scored three goals for the metropolitans in the second-half as Clare were held to a point. the 5-1 to 1-6 score line gave Dublin their first All-Ireland title and meant that goal-scoring hero Spain became the first dual All-Ireland winner as he won an All-Ireland football medal with Limerick in 1887.

In 1890 Cork and Wexford did battle in the All-Ireland final. The game was a controversial one and was marred by ill-tempered behaviour. A Cork player had his toe broken by one of his Wexford counterparts. Cork captain Dan Lane walked his men off the field in protest. At the time Cork were trailing by 2-2 to 1-6, however, the GAA's Central Council later backed Cork and the team were awarded the All-Ireland title.

The 1891 championship saw the novelty of Kerry contesting the All-Ireland final with Wexford. The game itself was the second game of a triple-header played at Clonturk Park on 28 February 1892. The first game that day was the All-Ireland football semi-final between Dublin and Cavan. This was followed by the All-Ireland furling final and the programme of games finished with the All-Ireland football final between Cork and the winners of the first game. The hurling decider was an exciting affair with the Kerry team playing in their bare feet in grey jumpers with a gold band. Paddy 'Carr' Carroll scored Kerry’s first point after five minutes with the team’s second score coming after another twenty minutes. At half-time Kerry led by 0-2 to 0-1. The game, however, was not without controversy. At full-time the referee said that the score was 1-1 apiece and that extra-time was necessary. The Kerry team were reluctant to play the extra thirty minutes with captain John Mahony one of the most vocal opponents. It was only after being persuaded by the chairman of the Kerry County Board that the team decided to line out for a third half hour of hurling. Both sides upped their games considerably for the only occasion that extra time was played in an All-Ireland final. Kerry went on to win the game by 2-3 to 1-5 to capture their first and only All-Ireland hurling title.