Cork v Limerick hurling battles are often fiery affairs
A picture of the Cork team of 1892/93/94 with Willie John O'Connell in the second row, far right.
THE first meeting of Cork and Limerick took place on a cold winter’s day in 1893.
On November 5 over 900 spectators braved the freezing conditions to attend the Munster Hurling Final held at the sportsfield in Charleville. The pitch was a blanket of frozen long grass while bunches of rushes took up the centre of it.
The match went ahead anyway and by the end of it, those rushes had been hacked to bits.
The game was a completely one-sided affair as the Rebels played the Shannonsiders off the pitch and claimed the Munster crown on a scoreline of 5-03 to 0-00.
Among those who played a starring role for Cork that day was St Finbarr’s stalwart Willie John O’Connell.
Four years later Willie John’s life would end tragically on the field of play when, in 1897, he was struck on the head by a hurley during a challenge match in Cork Park, known today as Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
Clashes between Cork and Limerick down through the years have been entertaining jostles.
One encounter between the two great hurling counties ended in a mass brawl and a betting controversy!
Cork and Limerick met in Thurles on July 19, 1915, in the Munster semi-final. A sweltering sun shone down on the sports field and temperatures reached boiling point on and off the pitch.
The sliotar was thrown in at 2pm in front of a crowd of 20,000 but the first half was a poor affair.
The play languished under the summer sun and the atmosphere among the spectators grew tense.
Even the referee, Tim Ryan, had noticed the atmosphere was strange on and off the pitch. As the first half dragged itself to a conclusion a sudden flurry of excitement at the sidelines drew Ryan’sattention.
Open betting was taking place among spectators and members of both team’s management and it was distracting the players on the pitch.
At half-time the scoreline was 0-00 apiece and it drew the ire of the referee.
He spoke to both teams and asked them to play with gusto. He also pleaded with the team officials to stop gambling at the sidelines and concentrate on the game.
As the second half got underway both teams took on the words of the ref and belted into each other.
Cork scored a point and followed it with a goal.
The sun rose higher and tempers soared on the pitch. With four minutes remaining, Cork scored another goal.
Limerick’s John Mackey was not at all pleased and took out his anger on Cork’s Tim Nagle. The two hurlers tussled and were soon joined by their teammates.
Then a sea of spectators flooded the pitch and it became a free for all brawl on the pitch.
The exasperated Ryan blew his whistle and declared the match abandoned, but nobody noticed and the brawl continued for another 10 minutes or so.
Because Cork were leading when the game was abandoned they were deemed the winners. Thankfully such scenes do not mar today’s games.
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