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Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship
Current season or competition: 2018 Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship
Irish	Craobh Iománaíochta na Mumhan Fé-21
Code	Hurling
Founded	1964; 54 years ago (1964)
Region	Munster (GAA)
Trophy	Corn na Cásca
No. of teams	5
Title holders	Limerick (8th title)
Most titles	Tipperary (20 titles)
Sponsors	Bord Gáis Energy
TV partner(s)	TG4
Official website	Official website

The Munster GAA Hurling Under-21 Championship, known simply as the Munster Under-21 Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurling competition for male players under the age of 21 in the province of Munster, and has been contested every year since the 1964 championship. It is sponsored by Bord Gáis Energy.^[1]

The final, currently held on the first Wednesday in July, serves as the culmination of a series of games played during May and June, and the results determine which team receives the Corn na Cásca. The championship has always been played on a straight knockout basis whereby once a team loses they are eliminated from the championship.

The Munster Championship is an integral part of the wider GAA Hurling Under-21 All-Ireland Championship. The winners and runners-up of the Munster final, like their counterparts in the Leinster Championship, advance to the semi-final stage of the All-Ireland series of games.

Five teams currently participate in the Munster Championship. Tipperary is the most successful team with 20 titles, followed by Cork with 18 titles.

Seven teams have competed since the inception of the Munster Championship in 1964. The title has been won at least once by five teams, all of whom have won the title more than once. Limerick are the current champions.^[2]

History

Development

The Munster Championship began in 1964 in response to a Congress motion put forward by the Kerry County Board for the introduction of a new championship grade. It was the fifth championship to be created after the senior, junior, minor and intermediate grades.

Beginnings

The inaugural Munster Championship featured Clare, Cork, Galway, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford. Galway and Kerry contested the very first match on Sunday 31 May 1964. Tipperary won the inaugural championship.

Proposed changes

In 2008 a motion was brought before a special Congress in an effort to combat player burnout. It was proposed to merge the existing under-21 and minor championships to create a new Munster Under-19 Hurling Championship based on the provincial system.^[3] This motion was defeated by 115 votes to 58.^[4]

A similar motion was later introduced in an effort to lower the age and create a new Munster Under-20 Championship based on the provincial system, however, this motion was also defeated.^[5]

Current format

Championship

The Munster Championship is a knockout tournament with pairings drawn at random. Each match is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn there is a period of extra time, however, if the sides still remain level a replay is required.

There are five teams in the Munster Championship. An open draw is made in which three of the five teams automatically qualify for the semi-final stage of the competition. Two other teams play in a lone quarter-final with the winner joining the other three teams at the semi-final stage.

Qualification for the All-Ireland Championship

As of the 2018 championship qualification for the All-Ireland Championship has changed due to the introduction of a "back door" for defeated finalists. Both the champions and runners-up qualify for the All-Ireland semi-finals.

Teams

2018 championship

The following five teams will compete during the 2018 championship.

Historic team changes

In spite of contesting the inaugural Munster Championship in 1964, Kerry had always been known as a county that was dominated by Gaelic football. Because of this the inter-county hurling team went into a sharp decline. Kerry's championship appearances were sporadic, while the team also suffered a number of heavy defeats before regrading to the All-Ireland Under-21 B Hurling Championship.

Non-Munster team

Due to a lack of meaningful competition in Connacht, Galway competed in the senior, intermediate and minor championships in Munster since 1959.^[6] Following the introduction of the under-21 grade, Galway played in the Munster Championship from 1964 until 1969. During that time they contested two finals.

Venues

History

Semple Stadium in Thurles is the home venue of Tipperary. It has hosted more finals than any other stadium.

Munster Championship matches were traditionally played at neutral venues or at a location that was deemed to be halfway between the two participants; however, teams eventually came to home and away agreements depending on the capabilities of their stadiums. Cork and Tipperary, Limerick and Cork and Limerick and Tipperary were the first teams to develop home and away agreements whereby every second meeting between teams was played at the home venue of one of them. All of the current teams have home and away agreements.

Attendances

Stadium attendances are a significant source of regular income for the Munster Council and for the teams involved. For the 2017 championship, average attendances were 6,138 with a total aggregate attendance figure of 24,554.

Final

The venue for the final also comes under the terms of the individual home and away agreements between the teams involved. Semple Stadium in Thurles has hosted more finals than any other venue.

Managers

Managers in the Munster Championship are involved in the day-to-day running of the team, including the training, team selection, and sourcing of players from the club championships. Their influence varies from county-to-county and is related to the individual county boards. The manager is assisted by a team of two or three selectors and an extensive backroom team consisting of various coaches. The under-21 team manager also works closely with the senior team manager due to an overlap of players on both teams. Prior to the development of the concept of a manager in the 1970s, teams were usually managed by a team of selectors with one member acting as chairman.

Winning managers (1995-present)

Manager	Team	Wins	Winning years
Bertie Óg Murphy	Cork	2	1996, 1997, 1998
Dave Keane	Limerick	3	2000, 2001, 2002
Donal Moloney	Clare	3	2012, 2013, 2014
Gerry O'Connor	Clare	3	2012, 2013, 2014
Séamus Power	Tipperary	2	2003, 2004
Seán O'Gorman	Cork	2	2005, 2007
Michael Doyle	Tipperary	1	1995
Gerry O'Brien	Tipperary	1	1999
Tom Fogarty	Tipperary	1	2006
Declan Carr	Tipperary	1	2008
John Minogue	Clare	1	2009
Ken Hogan	Tipperary	1	2010
Leo O'Connor	Limerick	1	2011
John Kiely	Limerick	1	2015
Seán Power	Waterford	1	2016
Pat Donnelly	Limerick	1	2017

Current managers

Nat.	Name	Team(s)	Appointed	Time as manager
	Seán Power	Waterford	25 January 2016	7003100800000000000♠2 years, 277 days
	Pat Donnelly	Limerick	11 October 2016	7002748000000000000♠2 years, 18 days
	John Carmody	Clare	12 November 2016	7002716000000000000♠1 year, 351 days
	Denis Ring	Cork	17 October 2017	7002377000000000000♠1 year, 12 days
	Vacant	Tipperary

Trophy and medals

At the end of the Munster final, the winning team is presented with a trophy. The Corn na Cásca is held by the winning team until the following year's final. Traditionally, the presentation is made at a special rostrum in the stand where GAA and political dignitaries and special guests view the match.

The cup is decorated with ribbons in the colours of the winning team. During the game the cup actually has both teams' sets of ribbons attached and the runners-up ribbons are removed before the presentation. The winning captain accepts the cup on behalf of his team before giving a short speech. Individual members of the winning team then have an opportunity to come to the rostrum to lift the cup.

The Corn na Cásca (Easter Cup) was first presented in 1966 to commemorate the golden jubilee of the 1916 Easter Rising.^[7]

In accordance with GAA rules, the Munster Council awards up to twenty-four gold medals to the winners of the Munster final.

Sponsorship

Since 2003, the Munster Championship has been sponsored. The sponsor has usually been able to determine the championship's sponsorship name.

Period	Sponsor(s)	Name
1964–2002	No main sponsor	The Munster Championship
2003–2007	Erin Foods	The Erin Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship
2008–present	Bord Gáis Energy	The Bord Gáis Energy Munster GAA Hurling Under-21 Championship

General statistics

Performance by county

Records

Final

Team

• 
  Most titles: 20:
  
  • 
    Tipperary (1964, 1965, 1967, 1972, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)
  
  


• 
  Most consecutive title wins: 4, joint record:
  
  
  
  • 
    Cork (1968, 1969, 1970, 1971)
  
  
  • 
    Tipperary (1978, 1979, 1980, 1981)
  
  
  
  


• 
  Most appearances in a final: 32:
  
  • 
    Tipperary (1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016)
  
  


• 
  Most appearances without winning: 2:
  
  • 
    Galway (1965, 1967)
  
  

Individual

• 
  Most wins: 4, Mick Malone (Cork) (1968, 1969, 1970, 1971)

Biggest Munster final wins

• The most one sided Munster finals:
  
  
  
  • 
    23 points – 1964: Tipperary 8–9 (33) – (10) 3–1 Waterford
    
  
  
  • 
    22 points – 1989: Tipperary 5–16 (31) – (9) 1–6 Limerick
    
  
  
  • 
    21 points – 2000: Limerick 4–18 (30) – (9) 1–6 Cork
    
  
  
  • 
    15 points – 1966: Cork 5–12 (27) – (12) 2–6 Limerick
    
  
  
  • 
    15 points - 2014: Clare 1-28 (31) - (16) 1-13 Cork
    
  
  
  • 
    14 points – 1988: Cork 4–12 (24) – (10) 1–7 Limerick
    
  
  
  
  

Top scorers

Overall

Single game

Finals

Miscellaneous

• 
  Mick Malone of Cork holds the record of being the only player to win four consecutive Munster under-21 winners' medals on the field of play. These victories came in 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971.


• 
  Cork and Tipperary jointly hold the record for the longest streak of success. Both counties have won four-in-a-row with Cork's coming between 1968 and 1971 and Tipperary's coming a decade later between 1978 and 1981.


• 
  Cork hold the record for the most consecutive appearances in Munster finals. They played in eight-in-a-row between 1975 and 1982, not including a replay in 1978, with success coming on four of those occasions.


• 
  Clare lost twelve Munster finals, not including a replay in 1986, before winning their first in 2009.


• Two counties have completed the Munster under-21 and senior double in the same year:
  
  
  
  • Cork in 1966, 1969, 1970, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1982, 2005
  
  
  • Tipperary in 1964, 1965, 1967, 1989, 2008
  
  
  
  


• Cork is the only county to have completed the Munster minor, under-21 and senior treble in the same year. These feats were achieved in 1966, 1969, 1970, 1975, 1977 and 2005.


• Cork is the only county to have completed the Munster minor, under-21, intermdiate and senior 'grand slam' in the same year. This was achieved in 2005.


• Five players have captained their counties to Munster titles in both the under-21 and senior grades:
  
  
  
  • 
    Gerald McCarthy captained Cork to the under-21 title in 1966 and the senior titles in 1966 and 1975.
  
  
  • 
    Eoin Kelly captained Tipperary to the under-21 title in 2003 and the senior title in 2008.
  
  
  
  


• Five players have captained their counties to Munster titles in both the minor and under-21 grades:
  
  
  
  • 
    Anthony O'Riordan captained Limerick to the minor title in 1984 and the under-21 title in 1986.
  
  
  • 
    Diarmaid FitzGerald captained Tipperary to the minor title in 2001 and the under-21 title in 2004.
  
  
  • 
    Shane O'Neill captained Cork to the minor title in 2004 and the under-21 title in 2007.
  
  
  • 
    Paul Flanagan captained Clare to the minor title in 2010 and the Under-21 title in 2013.
  
  
  • 
    Tony Kelly captained Clare to the minor title in 2011 and the Under-21 title in 2014.
  
  
  
  

List of Munster Finals

References

Sources

• Complete list of winning teams from Munster GAA website