Provincial power: Cork's victory can reaffirm All-Ireland trend
Tommy O'Connell of Cork is tackled by Kyle Hayes of Limerick during the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship final match between Limerick and Cork at LIT Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Picture: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
Despite Limerick’s recent dominance, Cork remain the most successful county in Munster championship history with 55 titles, including the most recent victory scored last week when they took down Limerick in a penalty shootout.
The game will go down in history – not just for the first Munster final penalty shootout, but for the fact it marks the end of Limerick’s historic winning streak in the Munster championship.
They’ve been untouchable in the last number of years, with no team having ever won six-in-a-row before. Despite Munster being so incredibly competitive, the Shannonsiders have been incredible.
Now that’s been stopped. Cork have ended that remarkable run.
Now, the focus for both teams quickly shifts to the bigger prize, the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. In the last 30 years, the battle between Munster and Leinster counties for the top honours has been incredibly tight.
Munster champions have slightly but consistently outperformed Leinster counterparts in All-Ireland finals since 1995, particularly during Limerick’s 2019-2023 run.
While Kilkenny dominated the 2000s, Munster’s five teams have ensured sustained competitiveness, even if Waterford haven’t won an All-Ireland in that time.
On the surface, there isn’t much of a gap between the two provinces. Munster counties have won 15 of the last 29 All-Irelands, Leinster 14. But of Leinster’s 14 in the last three decades, all but three of those titles have been won by Kilkenny.
Galway, Offaly and Wexford all have one each. By comparison, Limerick have won five, Clare have won four, Tipp have won three, and Cork three. That spread is much greater. There is more to Munster. At least, in recent history.
Leinster and Munster champions have appeared in a total of 13 finals where their opponent was from the other province.
Munster champions have come out on top eight times (1995, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2018, 2021, 2022) against a Leinster opponent, while for Leinster champions, they’ve only defeated Munster opponents in the decider five times (1996, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2015).
In 2023 and 2022, Munster Champions Limerick were able to overcome Leinster champions Kilkenny for two straight seasons, in that time – their provincial success directly translating to All-Ireland results.
They managed to win Munster consecutively from 2019 until 2024. In that time they won five of six All-Irelands.
Similarly, Kilkenny’s provincial successes from 2006-2009 were all converted into Liam MacCarthy victories. The same can be said of the Cork teams of 2004 and 2005. Two years of provincial supremacy, yielding two years of national glory.
Funnily enough, the last six All-Ireland champions all featured in the Munster final. Four of those champions were the winners of Munster. Limerick winning each of those four. Munster has been the dominant province in that time. Its teams have been a step ahead Prior to that, Leinster was the province in control. At least if we’re pitting provincial winners against one other.
Of 29 previous All-Ireland titles, 22 have been won by one of the two provincial winners. That’s 12 in Leinster, 10 in Munster.
But 26 of the last 29 All-Ireland champions featured in their respective provincial final. There have only been three cases of teams coming from outside the provincial decider to win the All-Ireland.
Limerick did it in 2018 to win their first All-Ireland title since 1973, while Clare also came from nowhere in 2013 to take the big prize, three years after Tipperary managed it, when they beat Kilkenny by eight points in 2010.
Provincial success isn’t a guarantee of an All-Ireland result. But in the last three decades, 75% of the time – it is – for one of the two winners. That gives hope to Cork and Kilkenny. Who knows, maybe we’ll see a first Cork/Kilkenny decider since 2006.
That statistic is also encouraging for Limerick and Galway: in 89% of the past 29 seasons, the All-Ireland champions have come from the four teams that reached the provincial finals.
There’s a clear correlation between provincial success and ultimate All-Ireland glory. In some ways, it’s to be expected – you’d assume the top two teams in each province would be strong contenders.
But what's notable is that even with the championship becoming more open under the round-robin format, that trend has held firm.
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