1973 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1973 was the 87th series of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, Ireland's premier hurling knock-out competition. Limerick won the championship, beating Kilkenny 1-21 to 1-14 in the final at Croke Park, Dublin.

1973 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
Championship details
Dates13 May – 2 September 1973
All-Ireland champions
Winning teamLimerick (7th win)
CaptainÉamonn Grimes
All-Ireland Finalists
Losing teamKilkenny
CaptainPat Delaney
Provincial champions
MunsterLimerick
LeinsterKilkenny
UlsterNot Played
ConnachtNot Played
Championship statistics
Top ScorerRichie Bennis (2-25)
Player of the YearÉamonn Grimes
All-Star TeamSee here
1972
1974

Format edit

Overview edit

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1973 was run on a provincial basis as usual. It was a knockout tournament with pairings drawn at random in the respective provinces - there were no seeds.

Each match was played as a single leg. If a match was drawn there was a replay. If both sides were still level at the end of that game another replay had to take place.

The Championship edit

Munster Championship

Quarter-final: (1 match) This was a single match between the first two teams drawn from the province of Munster.

Semi-finals: (2 matches) The winner of the lone quarter-final joined the other three Munster teams to make up the semi-final pairings.

Final: (1 match) The winner of the two semi-finals contested this game.

Leinster Championship

First Round: (1 match) This was a single match between two of the 'weaker' teams drawn from the province of Leinster.

Quarter-finals: (2 matches) The winner of the first-round game joined three other Leinster teams to make up the two quarter-final pairings.

Semi-finals: (2 matches) The winners of the two quarter-finals joined Kilkenny and Wexford, who received a bye to this stage, to make up the semi-final pairings.

Final: (1 match) The winner of the two semi-finals contested this game.

All-Ireland Championship

Quarter-final: (1 match) This was a single match between London and Galway, two teams who faced no competition in their respective provinces.

Semi-final: (1 matches) The winner of the lone quarter-final joined the Munster champions to make up the semi-final pairing.

Final: (1 match) The winner of the lone semi-final contested this game with the Leinster champions receiving a bye into the final.

Results edit

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship edit

13 May 1973 First round Offaly 4-12 – 3-6 Kildare O'Moore Park
J Kirwan 2-0, J Conroy 2-0, B Moylan 0-4, M Cleere 0-4, S Moylan 0-2, J Dolan 0-1, P McLoughney 0-1. J Walsh 2-2, T Carew 1-2, B Burke 0-1, T Christian 0-1. Referee: J Rankins (Laois)
28 May 1973 Quarter-final Dublin 0-17 - 1-6 Westmeath Páirc Tailteann
P Quigley 0-10, JJ Holden 0-2, B Sweeney 0-1, D Brannigan 0-1, M Bermingham 0-1, V Holden 0-1, D Rheinisch 0-1. K Kenry 1-0, G Whelan 0-2, L Maher 0-2, C Connaughton 0-1, K Gavan 0-1. Referee: J Kearns (Offaly)
28 May 1973 Quarter-final Offaly 3-10 – 3-10 Laois St. Brendan's Park
B Moylan 0-7, P Horan 1-1, S Moylan 1-0, J Kirwan 1-0, M Cleere 0-2. G Linehan 2-6, T Keenan 1-1, F Keenan 0-2, M Walshe 0-1. Referee: J Murphy (Kilkenny)
10 June 1973 Quarter-final replay Laois 3-10 – 5-6 Offaly O'Moore Park
E Dollard 1-3, G Conroy 1-1, G Lanham 0-4, G Cuddy 1-0, P Dillon 0-1, P Dowling 0-1. B Moylan 2-4, P Mulcare 2-1, W Gorman 1-0, P Horan 0-1. Referee: J Murphy (Kilkenny)
10 June 1973 Semi-final Kilkenny 2-19 – 2-11 Dublin Wexford Park
E Keher 0-10, M Brennan 1-2, K Purcell 1-0, P Broderick 0-2, S Cooke 0-2, P Delaney 0-2, B Cody 0-1. P Quigley 0-6, M Bermingham 1-1, D Rheinisch 1-1, R Walsh 0-1, H Dalton 0-1, M Holden 0-1. Referee: J Rankins (Laois)
24 June 1973 Semi-final Wexford 2-14 – 2-9 Offaly Nowlan Park
T Doran 2-1, T Byrne 0-6, M Maher 0-2, N Buggy 0-2, D Bernie 0-1, C Keogh 0-1, M Quigley 0-1. B Moylan 1-3, J Flaherty 1-3, J Kirwan 0-1, E Moyles 0-1, P Corcoran 0-1. Referee: J Murphy (Kilkenny)
8 July 1973 Final Kilkenny 4-22 – 3-15 Wexford Croke Park
E Keher 0-11, P Delaney 2-2, M Brennan 1-4, K Purcell 1-2, P Broderick 0-2, L O'Brien 0-1. T Byrne 2-6, M Quigley 0-4, J Berry 1-0, P Wilson 0-1, N Buggy 0-1, C Jacob 0-1, T Doran 0-1, C Keogh 0-1.

Munster Senior Hurling Championship edit

20 May 1973 Quarter-final Tipperary 1-16 – 2-8 Waterford Semple Stadium
F Loughnane 0-8, D Ryan 1-0, J Flanagan 0-3, L Gaynor 0-2, N O'Dwyer 0-1, J Ryan 0-1, S Hogan 0-1. S Greene 1-1, J Kirwan 1-1, P Enright 0-4, M Kirwan 0-1, M Hickey 0-1. Referee: S O'Connor (Limerick)
24 June 1973 Semi-final Limerick 3-11 – 3-9 Clare Semple Stadium
É Cregan 2-1, B Hartigan 1-1, R Bennis 0-3, É Grimes 0-2, M Dowling 0-2, F Nolan 0-1, L O'Donoghue 0-1. T Ryan 0-5, G Lohan 1-0, M O'Connor 1-0, J Callanan 1-0, P Russell 0-2, N Ryan 0-1, M McKeogh 0-1. Referee: S Moloney (Tipperary)
1 July 1973 Semi-final Tipperary 5-4 – 1-10 Cork Gaelic Grounds
R Ryan 2-0, S Hogan 1-1, F Loughnane 1-1, J Flanagan 1-0, PJ Ryan 0-1, P Byrne 0-1. G McCarthy 0-8, M Malone 1-1, P Moylan 0-1. Referee: M Slattery (Clare)
29 July 1973 Final Tipperary 2-18 – 6-7 Limerick Semple Stadium
F Loughnane 2-10, M Keating 0-4, S Hogan 0-2, J Flanagan 0-1, N O'Dwyer 0-1. R Bennis 1-5, F Nolan 2-1, É Cregan 2-0, M Dowling 1-0, L O'Donoghue 0-1. Referee: M Slattery (Clare)

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship edit

29 July 1973 Quarter-final London 4-7 – 3-5 Galway Dunlo GAA Ground
L Burke 2-0, F Canning 1-1, P O'Neill 1-1, B Barry 0-4, Martin Linnane 0-1. G Holland 1-0, J Faul 1-0, E Burke 1-1, G Cone 0-2, P Fahy 0-2. Referee: M Spain (Offaly)
5 August 1973 Semi-final Limerick 1-15 – 0-7 London Cusack Park
R Bennis 1-7, L O'Donoghue 0-4, É Cregan 0-2, B Hartigan 0-1, F Nolan 0-1. F Canning 0-2, P O'Neill 0-2, L Corless 0-1, T Connolly 0-1, P McDermott 0-1. Referee: M Spain (Offaly)
2 September 1973 Final Limerick 1-21 – 1-14 Kilkenny Croke Park
R Bennis (0-10), M Dowling (1-1), É Grimes (0-4), F Nolan (0-2), N Rea (0-2), B Hartigan (0-1), J McKenna (0-1). C Dunne (0-7), P Delaney (1-1), M Crotty (0-3), L O'Brien (0-2), M Brennan(0-1). Attendance: 58,009
Referee: M Slattery (Clare)

Top scorers edit

Overall
Rank Player County Tally Total Matches Average
1 Richie Bennis Limerick 2-25 31 4 7.75
2 Francis Loughnane Tipperary 3-19 28 3 9.33
3 Barney Moylan Offaly 3-18 27 4 6.75
4 Eddie Keher Kilkenny 0-21 21 2 10.50
5 Tom Byrne Wexford 2-12 18 2 9.00
6 George Lanham Laois 2-10 16 2 8.00
Pat Quigley Dublin 0-16 16 2 8.00
8 Éamonn Cregan Limerick 4-3 15 4 3.75
9 Pat Delaney Kilkenny 3-5 14 3 4.66
10 Mick Brennan Kilkenny 2-7 13 3 4.33
Single game
Rank Player County Tally Total Opposition
1 Francis Loughnane Tipperary 2-10 16 Limerick
2 Tom Byrne Wexford 2-6 12 Kilkenny
George Lanham Laois 2-6 12 Offaly
4 Eddie Keher Kilkenny 0-11 11 Wexford
5 Barney Moylan Offaly 2-4 10 Laois
Richie Bennis Limerick 1-7 10 London
Richie Bennis Limerick 0-10 10 Kilkenny
Eddie Keher Kilkenny 0-10 10 Dublin
Pat Quigley Dublin 0-10 10 Westmeath
10 Johnny Walsh Kildare 2-2 8 Offaly
Pat Delaney Kilkenny 2-2 8 Offaly
Richie Bennis Limerick 1-5 8 Tipperary
Francis Loughnane Tipperary 0-8 8 Waterford
Gerald McCarthy Cork 0-8 8 Tipperary

Championship statistics edit

Miscellaneous edit

  • Limerick win the Munster title for the first time since 1955.
  • Kilkenny win the Leinster title for the third consecutive year. It is their seventh provincial three-in-a-row.
  • London's win over Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final is their first championship victory since defeating Cork in the 1901 All-Ireland final.
  • In the All-Ireland semi-final between Limerick and London, a unique situation arose when brothers Ned and Gerry Rea marked one another. Ned was full-forward on the Limerick team while Gerry was at full-back for London.
  • Limerick win the All-Ireland title for the first time since 1940. It was their first time playing Kilkenny in the championship since then.

Player facts edit

Debutantes edit

The following players made their début in the 1973 championship:

Player Team Date Opposition Game
Jimmy Crampton Tipperary May 20 Waterford Munster quarter-final
Mick Culligan Clare June 24 Limerick Munster semi-final
Seán Hehir Clare June 24 Limerick Munster semi-final
Séamus Horgan Limerick June 24 Clare Munster semi-final
Ger Loughnane Clare June 24 Limerick Munster semi-final
Michael O'Connor Clare June 24 Limerick Munster semi-final
Noel Ryan Clare June 24 Limerick Munster semi-final
Tim Ryan Clare June 24 Limerick Munster semi-final
Joe McKenna Limerick June 24 Clare Munster semi-final
John Buckley Cork July 1 Tipperary Munster semi-final
Noel Dunne Cork July 1 Tipperary Munster semi-final
Pat Moylan Cork July 1 Tipperary Munster semi-final
Tom Ryan Limerick July 29 Tipperary Munster final
Brian Cody Kilkenny September 2 Limerick All-Ireland final

Retirees edit

The following players played their last game in the 1973 championship:

Player Team Last Game Date Opposition Début
Jimmy Doyle Tipperary Munster quarter-final May 20 Waterford 1957
Mick Culligan Clare Munster semi-final June 24 Limerick 1973
Mick Kilmartin Clare Munster semi-final June 24 Limerick 1971
Michael O'Connor Clare Munster semi-final June 24 Limerick 1973
Tim Ryan Clare Munster semi-final June 24 Limerick 1973
Jimmy Crampton Tipperary July 29 Munster final Waterford 1973
Len Gaynor Tipperary July 29 Munster final Waterford 1973
Christy Jacob Wexford Leinster final August 5 Kilkenny 1966
Éamonn Morrissey Kilkenny Leinster final August 5 Wexford 1972
Martin Coogan Kilkenny All-Ireland final September 2 Limerick 1961
John Kinsella Kilkenny All-Ireland final September 2 Limerick 1967

Sources edit

  • Corry, Eoghan, The GAA Book of Lists (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
  • Donegan, Des, The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).
  • Sweeney, Éamonn, Munster Hurling Legends (The O'Brien Press, 2002).

See also edit