Páirc or Limerick if Cork reach Munster hurling final
A general view of the fans as Séamus Harnedy makes a pass during last June's Munster SHC final at TUS Gaelic Grounds. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
It is perhaps early in the year for bold statements but still, here goes: Cork will not be playing in the Munster SHC final at FBD Semple Stadium this year.
That sounds more dramatic than it is, but while it is true, it can be broken down in rather prosaic terms following the confirmation of the regulations for this year’s provincial hurling championship.
Essentially, there are four possible Munster final opponents for Cork – should be it be either of the counties with whom they have home-and-away arrangements, Limerick or Tipperary, then it is the Rebels’ turn to host.
Pat Ryan’s side famously won the 2025 decider on penalties at TUS Gaelic Grounds, while it is, somewhat incredibly, coming up on 20 years since the last Cork-Tipp final, when the Rebels triumphed in Thurles. The next-longest gap between ‘old firm’ deciders is the 15 years between the finals of 1926 and 1941.
Should Cork and Clare or Waterford finish in the top two spots after the conclusion of the Munster round-robin, the game would take place at a neutral venue. Beginning in 2024, the Munster Council established a rota for finals involving the Banner County and the Déise – Thurles was the first in line and hosted the Limerick-Clare clash that year, with Páirc Uí Chaoimh next.
However, with Cork’s home ruled out for finals involving the Rebels against Clare or Limerick, it would be back to the Gaelic Grounds for such an eventuality. Any other combination of the Munster counties meeting in this year’s final would do so at the Páirc – unless it is between Tipperary and Limerick, in which case Thurles would be the venue, the only possibility that this year’s final would take place at the GAA’s birthplace.
Saturday night’s Cork-Tipp clash in the Allianz Hurling League Division 1A will be the counties’ fourth successive meeting at a venue other than Thurles.
Since the league clash at Semple Stadium just under a year ago – Cork’s last defeat in the competition – the Munster rivals met in the final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, owing to their home-and-away arrangement for knockout league ties, and were back by the Lee three weeks later for the scheduled Munster SHC round-robin game.
That was of course followed by July’s All-Ireland final at Croke Park – the counties have met twice on Jones’s Road in the All-Ireland series, with Tipp enjoying an aggregate margin of victory of 22 points – and Páirc Uí Chaoimh will once again be the venue on Saturday.
After two rounds of fixtures in the league, Cork and Tipp top the table on four points each and, if they were to reach the final again, it would take place in Thurles, while the provincial regular provincial championship game will be in Semple.
However, any other trip there for Cork this year would mean that they would be participating in an All-Ireland quarter-final rather than taking the direct route.
Cork v Limerick, Cork v Tipperary, Clare v Limerick, Clare v Tipperary, Clare v Waterford, Limerick v Waterford, Tipperary v Waterford.
Cork v Clare, Cork v Waterford.
Tipperary v Limerick.
App?
