Major feats by 1974 Cork minors have yet to be matched
The Cork team celebrate after beating Mayo in the 1974 All-Ireland MFC final.
As 2024 ends, it’s only right to belatedly honour the 50th anniversary of an achievement that has not been matched since.
When Cork won the All-Ireland minor hurling and football double in 1974, it was the third time in under a decade that the county had managed such a feat, following on from the dual wins of 1967 and 1969.
Tipperary had been the first to attain supremacy at U18 level in both codes in the same year in 1934, while Dublin did it in 1945 and again in 1954. However, while the half-century after Cork’s last double has featured instances of counties going close, the Irish Press Cup and Tom Markham Cup have not wintered together in the same county since then.
What adds an extra special layer to the Cork achievement of 1974 is the fact that there was a total of six players who featured in both squads – Tadhg Murphy (Sarsfields hurling/Glanmire football), Dermot McCurtain, Tom Cashman, Finbarr Delaney (all Blackrock hurling/St Michael’s football), Johnny Crowley (Bishopstown) and Declan Murphy (Nemo Rangers). For Tadhg Murphy and Johnny Crowley, it rounded off a marvellous year, as the pair had also been part of the St Finbarr’s College, Farranferris team that won the Dr Harty Cup and the Croke Cup, the All-Ireland colleges title.
The Munster hurling title was claimed with wins over Waterford, Limerick and Tipperary (replay), sending Cork straight through to the All-Ireland final. In the football, the September decider was reached after victories against Tipperary, Kerry, London in an All-Ireland quarter-final and Wicklow.
“We were on the crest of a wave in ’74,” says Tadhg Murphy.
“We drew with Tipperary in the Munster final, a fierce tight game, and we won the replay. We beat Kerry in Killarney in the football and that was a big result for us.
When you were winning matches, the whole thing gelled together from there. Kilkenny were very fancied in the hurling that year but we beat them in the final, 1-10 to 1-8.
“In the football, Mayo were strong and they beat Cavan in the semi-final and we beat Wicklow. We actually got the same score in the football final as we did in the hurling final, 1-10, and Mayo got 1-6.”
Murphy scored 1-6 in the hurling final win and three points in the football, with Diarmuid McCarthy scoring 1-3. The Sarsfields/Glanmire man praises the level of expertise Cork had on the line.
“Canon O’Brien obviously was in charge of the hurling team, and he was with Farna, too,” he says.
“Anybody who ever played under him would be very impressed with him, he was very good – really forward-thinking and very tactically aware.
“In the football, they brought in Pat Lougheed from the Barrs that year as the coach and he was excellent as well.
“Pat was very innovative and not afraid to try different things. I played midfield most of that year but Mayo had a strong midfield and I was named corner-forward for the final but I came out as a third midfielder.
“That was almost unheard of back then and it was an extremely brave thing to do as nearly every game was a traditional 15-on-15. The corner-back didn’t follow me out for about 20 minutes, so we had a lot of early possession and got ahead.”
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