Laois 6-2 Cork 4-1
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final 1915
One of the most famous All Ireland Hurling Finals in GAA history took place 105 years ago.
It was the meeting of Cork and Laois in 1915 with Laois coming out on top to win their first, and to date, their only All Ireland Hurling title. This 1915 All Ireland Final also gave rise to the long held notion in the Rebel County that “Cork can’t play in the rain!”
On October 23 1915 Laois arrived in Dublin and checked into their hotel on Gardiner Street in the late afternoon while Cork arrived in the capital later that night.
The Cork team were in buoyant mood disembarking the train as they were heavy favourites to beat Laois. They brought with them their own band from Leeside – The Barrack Street Brass Band!
At the Laois hotel the team had a hearty dinner and some of the players even had their muscles massaged but when they retired to their respective rooms, officials of the Laois County Board hired four men to patrol the corridors to make sure none of the players would sneak out to sample a Saturday night out in Dublin.
The next morning on October 24, the team had their breakfast in the hotel before going to mass in Gardiner Street church. After mass they went back to the hotel and got dressed in their playing gear.
Unlike today’s colours of blue and white, the Laois team of 1915 sported jerseys of horizontal black and yellow stripes.
There was no bus or police escort in those days as the Laois team walked towards Jones Road wearing their jerseys with their hurleys in hand.
A total of 17 special match day trains were provided for fans not only travelling from Cork and Laois but from other counties such as Galway, Kilkenny, Waterford and Limerick as the interest in the All Ireland Hurling Final of 1915 was so great.
Admission to Croke Park for Cork verses Laois varied.
A sideline seat cost three shillings while the privilege to stand on the high bank around the pitch cost six pence, but expense did not deter the crowds and up to 12,000 people filled Croke Park and the GAA took in £362 at the gates.
That October afternoon proved to be a cold wet one. Laois made their entrance onto the pitch without much fanfare while the Cork team followed them some minutes later with the sound of the Barrack Street Band leading them out.
The rain poured in buckets and unlike Cork who wore their jerseys, the Laois team decided to enter the field of play wearing coats over their jerseys.
Just before the sliotar was thrown in, the Laois county board decided to lather their hurleys with resin. It was a cunning move as the Laois players had a better grip on their hurleys than the Cork team.
William Walsh came from Waterford to referee the match and the sliotar was thrown in at 2.55pm. Cork scored three goals in quick succession.
Joe Phelan was the first to register a score for Laois when he hit the sliotar over the crossbar and not long before the half time whistle was blown he managed to score a goal.
Another came courtesy of John Phelan before Tom Finlay scored a point to bring them within a point of Cork at half time.
When the second half started, Laois unfurled a faster game and scored three goals. Joe Hiney scored the first two goals while Jack Carroll bagged the third, but Hiney wasn’t finished and just before the full time whistle was blown he went and stuck another one in the back of the Cork net.
As the rain continued to pour, Cork could only muster one goal and when the full time whistle was blown Laois won their first ever All Ireland title on a score line of 6-2 to 4-1.
Some of the Laois team went home straight after the match on the Sunday evening train but more of them waited until Monday to arrive home to a county bursting in celebratory mood.
The hills were ablaze with bonfires that Monday evening when the All Ireland winners arrived at Abbeyleix and team captain Jack Finlay led his men in a rapturous procession through the street behind a pipe band.
Most of the Cork team went home with colds and from then on it has been something of a folklore admission in the rebel county that a Cork team can never play in the rain!
The Laois team of 1915 were considered under dogs but through meticulous planning and preparation their end reward was All Ireland glory.
Laois: Paddy Ryan, Joe Dunphy, Jack Walsh, Bob O’Keefe, Jim Carroll, Tom Finlay, John Finlay (capt), Jack Daly, Joe Carroll, Ned McEvoy, Paddy Campion, Jack Caroll, John Phelan, Joe Phelan, John Hiney. Subs: Pat Lee, Jim Deegan, Jack Loughman, Rev. JJ Kearney, John J Higgins, Jack Lee
Cork: B. Murphy, W. Walsh, J. Murphy, J. Ramsell, L. Flaherty, J. Murphy, C. Sheehan, W. Fitzgerald, T. Nagle, M. Byrne, J. Hyde, T. O’Riordan, P. Halloran.
SEE ALSO – We want your #LoveLaois photos as the county begins to open up again
The post Laois Hurling Memory: Our only senior All-Ireland title from 105 years ago appeared first on Laois Today.
source https://www.laoistoday.ie/2020/06/18/laois-hurling-memory-our-only-senior-all-ireland-title-from-105-years-ago/
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