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All-Ireland Poc Fada Championship

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The All-Ireland Poc Fada Hurling & Camogie Championships is an annual tournament testing the skills of Ireland's best hurlers and camogie players. Poc Fada is Irish for "long puck". The championships are sponsored by Martin Donnelly (who has been a sponsor since 1996).

The All Ireland Poc Fada Finals have taken place on the Saturday of the Irish August Public Holiday each year since 2005. In 2018 the All Ireland Hurling Championship was restructured, with the 2019 Finals taking place on Saturday 3 August.[1]

The Senior Hurling Final starts at An Fhána Mór, Annaverna, County Louth. Competitors must puck (hit) a sliotar with a hurley to the top of Annaverna Mountain (An Céide), and onwards to Carn an Mhadaidh. After a short break they continue down to An Gabhlán, before finishing back at the start of the course. The whole course measures 5 kilometres (3.1 mi).

Tournaments

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Seniors Final: Corn Setanta (The Setanta Cup)

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The 12 competitors competing in this category qualify as the four provincial champions and runners-up, the current champion, the 2013 "All Star" goalkeeper and 2 invitationals. In the past competitors have come from USA, Europe and South Africa.

"Corn Setanta ("the sliotar cup)" is awarded to the player who takes the lowest number of pucks. Ties are broken by the distance by which the player's last puck crosses the finish line.

Comórtas Beirte (Pairs) – Corn Cuailgne (The Cooley Cup) and Corn Na Craoibhe Rua (The Red Branch Cup)

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Shared between the pairing drawn prior to the competition as the pair returning the fewest combined pucks for the course. Record holders still to be clarified! This competition has now been discontinued.

Camogie Final – (The Camogie Poc Fada Cup)

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There are seven competitors in the Ladies event, although if there is an invitational place/wildcard on offer there may be 8. Presently the current champion, the 4 provincial qualifiers, a qualifier from Co. Louth and a qualifier from Co. Armagh, the latter 2 counties being the hosts. In the past, the invitational/wildcard has gone to the London Cumann.

The U16 Boys Final – Corn Sheáin Óg Mhic Sheáin (The Young John McShane Cup)

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There are currently only 4 participants in this event, 1 from each of the 4 provincial qualifiers. If the situation occurs where the winner of the All Ireland final is eligible to compete at the same age group the following year he will be asked to return and defend his All Ireland title. To date this has happened twice when the 2011 Under 16 champion (Cillian Kiely of Offaly) successfully retained the All Ireland title in 2012. This feat was repeated by his brother Cathal, the 2016 champion, who also retained his title in 2017.

History

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The tournament was founded in 1960 by Fr. Pól Mac Sheáin and the Naomh Moninne club based in Fatima, Dundalk, Louth, with the first All Ireland event taking place in 1961, Limerick man Vincent Godfrey was the first winner, out of 16 hurlers invited. The competition went off the calendar after 1969 before returning in 1981 with 12 competitors.

The concept of the competition originates in the Irish legend of "Táin Bó Cuailgne" when Cúchulainn, who as the boy Setanta set out from his home at Dún Dealgan to the King's court at Emain Macha hitting his sliotar before him and running ahead to catch it as he travelled over the Cooley Mountains.

In 2001 the Poc Fada was held at Dundalk Stadium (Dundalk Racecourse) due to foot-and-mouth disease on the Cooley Peninsula, doing two laps of the circuit (2 miles 880 yards / 4,023 metres). The 2005 tournament was won by Albert Shanahan of Limerick, with international soccer player Niall Quinn (who played for Dublin in the All-Ireland minor final of 1983) also competing.

Almost all of the winners have been from the traditional hurling counties, but Dinny Donnelly (Meath), Gerry Goodwin (Tyrone), Colin Byrne (Wicklow), Paul Dunne (Louth), Mary Henry (Westmeath), 2009 champion Gerry Fallon (Roscommon) and the 2010 champion Graham Clarke (Down) have been the exceptions. The record currently stands at 48 pucks (an average of 104 metres per puck), achieved by Brendan Cummins (Tipperary) in 2004. The current record for the Camogie course is held by Patricia Jackman of Waterford when in 2013 she completed the course in 27 pocs and 7 metres (over the end line). Traditionally the most successful competitors have generally been goalkeepers, owing to the need for goalkeepers to puck the ball far up the field in a game of hurling but increasingly there are more "outfield" Hurlers and Camogs out qualifying their goalkeeping contemporaries at county and provincial final level.

Poc Fada Hall of Fame

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Name County Number of Wins Years
Brendan Cummins Tipperary 9 2004, 2006–08, 2011–15
Ger Cunningham Cork 7 1984–90
Patricia Jackman Waterford 7 2009–15
Cillian Kiely Offaly 4 Under 16 2011-12. Senior 2018-19
Molly Lynch Cork 4 Under 16 2017. Senior 2021-23

Roll of Honour

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Poc Fada Seniors

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Year Winner County Number of pucks
1961 Vincent Godfrey Limerick 52
1962 Ollie Walsh Kilkenny 67
1963 Ollie Walsh
Tom Geary
Dinny Donnelly
Kilkenny
Waterford
Meath
70
1964 Oliver Gough Kilkenny
1965 Denis Murphy Cork
1966 Finbar O'Neill Cork
1967 Finbar O'Neill Cork
1968 Finbar O'Neill Cork
1969 Liam Tobin Waterford
1970–80 Eleven-year hiatus
1981 Pat Hartigan Limerick
1982 Gerry Goodwin Tyrone
1983 Pat Hartigan Limerick
1984 Ger Cunningham Cork
1985 Ger Cunningham Cork
1986 Ger Cunningham Cork
1987 Ger Cunningham Cork
1988 Ger Cunningham Cork
1989 Ger Cunningham Cork
1990 Ger Cunningham Cork
1991 Tommy Quaid Limerick
1992 Albert Kelly Offaly
1993 Albert Kelly Offaly
1994 Michael Shaughnessy Galway
1995 Michael Shaughnessy Galway
1996 Michael Shaughnessy Galway
1997 Colin Byrne Wicklow
1998 Albert Kelly Offaly
1999 Davy Fitzgerald Clare
2000 Colin Byrne Wicklow 50
2001 Albert Shanahan Limerick 49 §
2002 Davy Fitzgerald Clare 52
2003 Paul Dunne Louth 54
2004 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 48
2005 Albert Shanahan Limerick 58
2006 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 52
2007 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 49
2008 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 49
2009 Gerry Fallon Roscommon 60 (strong wind)
2010 Graham Clarke Down 51
2011 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 50
2012 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 39 §
2013 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 51
2014 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 54
2015 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 57
2016 James McInerney Clare 50
2017 Tadhg Haran Galway 51
2018 Cillian Kiely Offaly 48
2019 Cillian Kiely Offaly 49
2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Colin Ryan Limerick 21 §
2022 Killian Phelan Kilkenny 49
2023 Fionan Mackessy Kerry 48

§ short course 2001 – took place at the Dundalk Racecourse (two and a half-mile) due to foot-and-mouth disease. § Less mountainous course 2012 – The Senior Men's competition was played over the "Lower" course due to the prevailing weather conditions on Finals' Day. They started at the 2.14 km (1.33 mi) course start line pucking to "An Gábhlan" and back to the start line where they turned and repeated the course for a second time. The course distance was 4.24 km (2.63 mi). § short course 2021 – the women's/juvenile course was used due to heavy fog on the mountains.[2]

Camogie Poc Fada since 2004

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Uses a shorter course of just 2 stages from "An Fhana Mór" to "An Gabhlan" and back, a distance of 2.14 km (1.33 miles). The current record for the Camogie course is held by Patricia Jackman of Waterford when in 2013 she completed the course in 27 pocs and 7 metres (over the end line). Lyndsey Condell of Carlow's record stood from 2008 until 2013 when she completed the course in 28 pocs and 67 metres (over the end line) – Scoresheet not available online but has been verified. Catriona Daly (Galway) finishing 2nd to Patricia in 2013 with 28 pocs and 17.5m is in third place. Mary Henry of Westmeath in fourth place with 28 pocs and 4 metres (over the end line) in 2006.

Year Winner County Number of pucks
2004 Stephanie Gannon Galway 32
2005 Denise Lynch Clare 30
2006 Mary Henry Westmeath 28
2007 Lyndsey Condell Carlow 30
2008 Lyndsey Condell Carlow 28
2009 Patricia Jackman Waterford 29
2010 Patricia Jackman Waterford 28
2011 Patricia Jackman Waterford 28
2012 Patricia Jackman Waterford 29
2013 Patricia Jackman Waterford 27
2014 Patricia Jackman Waterford 29
2015 Patricia Jackman Waterford 27
2016 Aoife Murray Cork 27
2017 Susan Earner Galway 26
2018 Susan Earner Galway 24
2019 Catriona Daly Galway 24
2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Molly Lynch Cork 28
2022 Molly Lynch Cork
2023 Molly Lynch Cork 24

Boys (Under 16)

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Uses the same course as the Camogie finalists.

Year Winner County Number of pucks
2007 Aaron Murphy Limerick 24
2008 Eamon Murphy Waterford 26
2009 Noel Fallon Roscommon 25
2010 Owen Treacy Galway 25
2011 Cillian Kiely Offaly 24
2012 Cillian Kiely Offaly 22
2013 Jack Coyne Galway 25
2014 Donal McKernan Antrim 26
2015 Shaun Murray Waterford 25
2016 Cathal Kiely Offaly 22
2017 Cathal Kiely Offaly 22
2018 Kyle Shelly Tipperary 22
2019 Patrick Burke Galway 24
2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022 Darragh Smith Westmeath 24
2023 Sean Kelly Galway 24

Girls U16 Camogie Poc Fada since 2015

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Uses the same course as the Camogie finalists.

Year Winner County Number of pucks
2015 Sarah Healy Galway 32
2016 Sarah Healy Galway 28
2017 Molly Lynch Cork 31
2018 Maeve Muldoon Galway 27
2019 Katie Gilchrist Galway 27
2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022 Lucy Lynch Cork 28
2023 Tiarná Kelly Derry 29

References

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  1. ^ "Offaly brothers finish first and second in All Ireland Poc Fada Final". offalyexpress.ie. 3 August 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Colin Ryan crowned M Donnelly GAA All-Ireland Poc Fada champion". gaa.ie.
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