Cork Senior Hurling Championship - History

History

The Cork Senior Club Hurling Championship is one of the most hotly contested club hurling championships in Ireland. Such is the prestige of the competition that it has often been referred to as 'the little All-Ireland.' The first Cork Hurling Championship took place in 1887 when Tower St. were crowned the first Cork County Champions. There was no championship played in 1905 and 1921. Over the years the county final has attracted followers of the game from all over the country and has produced some legendary hurling battles. In 1977 a record-breaking 34,000 spectators watched St. Finbarr’s defeat Glen Rovers in the county final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. The Cork SHC was at its strongest in the 1970s when a Cork team won the All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship every year of the decade, except for 1971 and 1976. This success at club level paved the way for the Cork senior hurlers to win three All-Ireland hurling titles in-a-row between 1976 and 1978.

Blackrock, Glen Rovers and St. Finbarr's are affectionately known as "the Big Three" in Cork club hurling. Together they have won over 80 Cork County titles. While Blackrock has won the most Glen Rovers has the proud distinction of having won 8 Cork SHC titles in-a-row in the 1930s and 1940s. In recent years the dominance of these three clubs has diminished somewhat as the East Cork clubs have emerged successful. In the 2006 Cork SHC seven of the eight quarter-finalists were clubs from East Cork.