North Cork Junior A Hurling Championship

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (July 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

North Cork Junior A Hurling Championship
Code	Hurling
Founded	1925; 97 years ago (1925)
Region	Avondhu (GAA)
Title holders	Ballygiblin (3rd title)
Most titles	Kilworth (11 titles)
Sponsors	Hibernian Hotel
Official website	Official website

The North Cork Junior A Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Hibernian Hotel Junior A Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Avondhu Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1925 for junior hurling teams in North Cork.

The series of games begin in May, with the championship culminating with the final in the autumn. The championship includes a group stage insuring teams will get at least 2 championship matches.

The North Cork Junior Championship is an integral part of the wider Cork Junior Hurling Championship. The winners and runners-up of the North Cork championship join their counterparts from the other seven divisions to contest the county championship.

Ballygiblin are the title-holders (2021) after defeating Clyda Rovers by 2-12 to 0-10 in the final.

History[]

Development[]

The Cork Junior Hurling Championship had been contested on a countywide basis since 1895, however, an increase in the number of participating clubs resulted in a restructuring of the entire championship. The North Cork Board was established in 1925 with other divisions in other parts of the county created in the years that followed. Since then the individual junior championships were organised on a divisional basis with the division winners progressing to contest the county series of games. The first North Cork Junior Championship was played in 1925.

In 2007 the championship was split in two with the top teams competing in the newly named North Cork Premier Junior Hurling Championship. Following this change the North Cork Junior A Hurling Championship was contested by the second tier teams. This system lasted until 2014 when the premier championship reverted to being called the North Cork JAHC.

Team dominance[]

Milford were the first team to enjoy multiple successes in the championship. They won four titles between 1925 and 1936, while also becoming the first club to retain the championship.

Near neighbours and local rivals Ballyhea and Newtownshandrum enjoyed a dominant period from 1939 until 1968. The two clubs shared 14 championship titles during this period. Castletownroche also had their greatest period during this time, winning four titles between 1954 and 1960.

Since the 1960s the championship was dominated by Kildorrery and Kilworth, who regularly won titles in each of the following decades. Kilworth claimed all of their 11 championships in a 45-year period between 1961 and 2006 to leave them in the top position on the all-time roll of honour. Their hegemony was closely challenged by Kildorrery who won eight of their nine championship titles between 1962 and 1988. At this time Fermoy emerged as a force, winning five championships between 1987 and 1999. Their county final defeat in 2000 brought the curtain down on their greatest era in the competition.

The first decade of the 21st century was dominated by Charleville. After a 15-year hiatus they claimed their fifth ever title in 2001. Four more championships followed between 2002 and 2011.

Format history[]

For the first seventy years the championship was played as a single elimination tournament whereby once a team lost they were eliminated from the championship. Since the late 1990s the championship has seen the introduction of a "back door" system which provides each team with a minimum of two games before exiting the championship.

2021 Championship[]

Group Stage[]

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	Diff	Pts	Qualification
1	Kilshannaig	3	2	1	0	+8	5	Quarter-Finals
2	Dromina	3	2	1	0	+28	5
3	Liscarroll-Churchtown Gaels	3	1	0	2	-8	2
4	Shanballymore	3	0	0	3	-28	0

Dromina 4-19 - 1-09 Shanballymore

Kilshannig 4-14 - 2-13 Granard Gaels

Granard Gaels 2-15 - 0-13 Shanballymore

Dromina 1-18 - 3-12 Kilshannig

Kilshannig 1-14 - 0-16 Shanballymore

Granard Gaels 1-11 - 2-17 Dromina

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	Diff	Pts	Qualification
1	Ballygiblin	3	2	1	0	+25	5	Quarter-Finals
2	Killavullen	3	2	0	1	+15	4
3	Fermoy	3	1	1	1	+1	3
4	Araglen	3	0	0	3	-41	0

Fermoy 3-21 - 3-09 Araglen

Ballygiblin 2-14 - 1-13 Killavullen

Ballygiblin 0-16 - 2-10 Fermoy

Killavullen 1-19 - 1-11 Araglen

Killavullen 1-17 - 0-09 Fermoy

Araglen 0-09 - 3-21 Ballygiblin

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	Diff	Pts	Qualification
1	Ballyhooly	3	2	1	0	+47	5	Quarter-Finals
2	Clyda Rovers	3	2	1	0	+36	5
3	Buttevant	3	1	0	2	-19	2
4	Ballyclough	3	0	0	3	-64	0

Buttevant 2-16 - 0-14 Ballyclough

Clyda Rovers 1-17 - 1-17 Ballyhooly

Clyda Rovers 0-23 - 1-11 Buttevant

Ballyhooly 4-31 - 1-11 Ballyclough

Ballyhooly 3-23 - 1-11 Buttevant

Ballyclough 0-10 - 4-25 Clyda Rovers

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	Diff	Pts	Qualification
1	Harbour Rovers	2	1	1	0	+16	3	Quarter-Finals
2	Charleville	2	1	1	0	+4	3
3	Castletownroche	2	0	0	2	-20	0

Charleville 1-17 - 0-20 Harbour Rovers

Harbour Rovers 1-22 - 0-09 Castletownroche

Castletownroche 2-16 - 1-23 Charleville

Knockout Stage[]

Quarter-Finals

Kilshannig 0-12 - 0-15 Ballygiblin AET

Clyda Rovers 2-07 - 0-12 Harbour Rovers

Ballyhooly 1-14 - 2-12 Charleville

Dromina 1-13 - 0-15 Killavullen

Semi-Finals

Clyda Rovers 2-16 - 1-13 Dromina

Ballygiblin 1-14 - 0-15 Charleville

Final

Ballygiblin 2-12 - 0-10 Clyda Rovers

Qualification for subsequent competitions[]

The North Cork Championship winners and runners-up qualify for the subsequent Cork Junior Hurling Championship. Prior to 2017 only the winners were permitted to progress to the county championship.

The championship[]

Overview[]

The North Cork Junior Championship is effectively a knockout tournament with pairings drawn at random — there are no seeds.

Each match is played as a single leg. If a match ends as a draw there is a period of extra time, however, if both sides are still level at the end of extra time a replay takes place and so on until a winner is found.

Participating teams[]

Team	Location	Colours
Ballyclough	Ballyclough	Green and yellow
Ballygiblin	Mitchelstown	Red and white
Ballyhooly	Ballyhooly	Blue and yellow
Buttevant	Buttevant	Black and yellow
Castletownroche	Castletownroche	Green and yellow
Clyda Rovers	Mourneabbey	Black and yellow
Doneraile	Doneraile	Red and white
Dromina	Dromina	Blue and yellow
Fermoy	Fermoy	Black and yellow
Harbour Rovers	Glanworth	Green and white
Kilshannig	Glantane	Blue and yellow
Kilworth	Kilworth	Red and white
Liscarroll-Churchtown Gaels	Liscarroll	Green,white and yellow
Newtownshandrum	Newtownshandrum	Green and yellow
Shanballymore	Shanballymore	Red and black

Roll of honour[]

#	Team	Wins	Winning Years	Runners-Up	Losing Years
1	Kilworth	11	1961, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1980, 1983, 1991, 1993, 1995, 2005, 2006	9	1962, 1963, 1965, 1972, 1976, 1985, 1994, 1997, 2004
2	Ballyhea	10	1930, 1949, 1950, 1953, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1965, 1975, 1976	8	1937, 1943, 1947, 1948, 1954, 1964, 1969, 1974
3	Newtownshandrum	9	1939, 1940, 1944, 1946, 1951, 1952, 1968, 1992, 2013	2	1941, 1942
	Kildorrery	9	1962, 1963, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1984, 1988, 2012	5	1961, 1968, 1975, 1978, 2011
	Charleville	9	1945, 1970, 1974, 1986, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2008, 2011	8	1926, 1973, 1977, 1983, 1984, 1995, 1998, 2006
6	Fermoy	8	1941, 1964, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1999, 2009	2	2000, 2009
	Castletownroche	8	1928, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1978, 1979, 1982	8	1950, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1959, 1980, 1991, 2007
8	Dromina	5	1998, 2000, 2003, 2014, 2017
	Shanballymore	5	1931, 1937, 1942, 1996, 1997
	Milford	5	1925, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1981
11	Ballygiblin	3	2004, 2018, 2021
	Harbour Rovers	3	2015, 2016, 2021
	Clyda Rovers	3	1985, 1989, 2019
14	Doneraile	2	1947, 1948
	Oldcastletown	2	1938, 1943	2	1932, 1935
	Liscarroll	2	1932, 1934	5	1931, 1934, 1970, 1971, 1982
	Mallow	2	1926, 1927	1	1938
18	Buttevant	1	2010
	Churchtown	1	1929
20	Granard Gaels	0	-	1	2013
	Ballymagoogley	0	-	1	1925

List of finals[]

Year	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Score	#
1925	Milford		Ballymagooley
1926	Mallow		Charleville
1927	Mallow	8-02	Dromina	4-00
1928	Castletownroche	3-03	Ballyhea	2-04
1929	Churchtown	5-03	Killavullen	3-01
1930	Ballyhea	2-05	Shanballymore	1-01
1931	Shanballymore	4-01	Liscarroll	1-01
1932	Liscarroll	4-05	Oldcastletown	2-03
1933	Milford	4-02	Mitchelstown	3-04
1934	Mitchelstown	2-02	Liscarroll	2-01
1935	Milford	4-02	Oldcastletown	1-00
1936	Milford	6-03	Mitchelstown	3-05
1937	Shanballymore	2-06	Ballyhea	2-03
1938	Oldcastletown	3-06	Mallow	2-03
1939	Newtownshandrum	6-06	Shanballymore	3-04
1940	Newtownshandrum	5-03	Shanballymore	3-03
1941	Fermoy	10-05	Newtownshandrum	2-04
1942	Shanballymore	5-03	Newtownshandrum	4-03
1943	Oldcastletown	6-07	Ballyhea	1-01
1944	Newtownshandrum	4-07	Mitchelstown	4-01
1945	Charleville	4-06	Ballyhooly	3-01
1946	Newtownshandrum	6-03	Ballyhooly	2-02
1947	Doneraile	5-10	Ballyhea	3-04
1948	Doneraile	2-05	Ballyhea	0-03
1949	Ballyhea	4-04	Doneraile	2-05
1950	Ballyhea	7-05	Castletownroche	0-01
1951	Newtownshandrum	5-09	Doneraile	4-03
1952	Newtownshandrum	4-08	Castletownroche	2-04
1953	Ballyhea	6-05	Castletownroche	3-06
1954	Castletownroche	1-11	Ballyhea	2-03
1955	Ballyhea	6-05	Castletownroche	2-03
1956	Castletownroche	5-06		1-05
1957	Castletownroche	4-05	Clyda Rovers	2-04
1958	Ballyhea	3-07	Doneraile	4-03
1959	Ballyhea	4-06	Castletownroche	3-04
1960	Castletownroche	7-05		4-03
1961	Kilworth	4-09	Kildorrery	2-07
1962	Kildorrery	6-07	Kilworth	7-01
1963	Kildorrery	4-05	Kilworth	3-07
1964	Fermoy	6-02	Ballyhea	4-06
1965	Ballyhea	2-11	Kilworth	3-03
1966	Kilworth	4-09		2-04
1967	Kilworth	4-07	Freemount	3-03
1968	Newtownshandrum	2-11	Kildorrery	3-05
1969	Kildorrery	3-10	Ballyhea	0-05
1970	Charleville	4-11	Liscarroll	2-08
1971	Kilworth	4-10	Liscarroll	2-09
1972	Kildorrery	3-11	Kilworth	2-09
1973	Kildorrery	4-18	Charleville	7-07
1974	Charleville	2-04	Ballyhea	1-06
1975	Ballyhea	1-13	Kildorrery	1-12
1976	Ballyhea	1-10	Kilworth	1-05
1977	Kildorrery	5-17	Charleville	2-09
1978	Castletownroche	4-14	Kildorrery	3-08
1979	Castletownroche	2-17	Milford	3-04
1980	Kilworth	4-08	Castletownroche	1-12
1981	Milford	1-12	Dromina	1-06
1982	Castletownroche	4-15	Liscarroll	0-09
1983	Kilworth	4-09	Charleville	2-06
1984	Kildorrery	3-05	Charleville	1-10
1985	Clyda Rovers	1-09	Kilworth	1-06
1986	Charleville	0-12	Clyda Rovers	0-10
1987	Fermoy	2-08	Dromina	1-06
1988	Kildorrery	1-13	Dromina	1-05
1989	Clyda Rovers	0-11	Shanballymore	0-10
1990	Fermoy	3-08	Milford	1-09
1991	Fermoy	1-16	Castletownroche	1-07
1992	Newtownshandrum	2-08	Dromina	2-07
1993	Kilworth	2-11	Dromina	2-10
1994	Fermoy	2-08	Kilworth	0-06
1995	Kilworth	3-14	Charleville	1-09
1996	Shanballymore	4-06	Dromina	1-11
1997	Shanballymore	2-11	Kilworth	0-12
1998	Dromina	4-09	Charleville	1-15
1999	Fermoy	1-13	Dromina	0-12
2000	Dromina	2-12	Fermoy	1-11
2001	Charleville	0-17	Dromina	2-08
2002	Charleville	2-11	Dromina	0-10
2003	Dromina	1-15	Ballygiblin	0-14
2004	Ballygiblin	0-14	Kilworth	2-06
2005	Kilworth	4-17	Clyda Rovers	1-12
2006	Kilworth	1-17	Charleville	0-12
2007	Charleville	1-19	Castletownroche	0-12
2008	Charleville	1-17	Fermoy	1-12
2009	Fermoy	1-10	Clyda Rovers	0-12
2010	Buttevant	0-13	Churchtown	1-05
2011	Charleville	2-12	Kildorrery	0-10	[1]
2012	Kildorrery	3-17	Harbour Rovers	1-10	[2]
2013	Newtownshandrum	2-16	Liscarroll-Churchtown Gaels	1-08
2014	Dromina	1-18	Newtownshandrum	0-09	[3]
2015	Harbour Rovers	1-13	Clyda Rovers	0-10	[4]
2016	Harbour Rovers	1-19	Ballyhooly	2-12	[5]
2017	Dromina	3-7	Ballyhooly	1-12	[6]
2018	Ballygiblin	1-15	Shanballymore	0-12	[7]
2019	Clyda Rovers	2-14	Harbour Rovers	0-19	[8]
2020	Harbour Rovers	2-15	Kilshannig	0-14	[9]
2021	Ballygiblin	2-12	Clyda Rovers	0-10

Notes

• 1932 – the first match ended in a draw.
• 1963 – the first match ended in a draw: Kildorrery 4-05, Kilworth 4-05.
• 1964 – the first match ended in a draw: Fermoy 7-05, Ballyhea 6-08.
• 1978 – the first match ended in a draw: Castletownroche 3-12, Kildorrery 4-09.
• 1984 – the first match ended in a draw: Kildorrery 0-13, Charleville 2-07.
• 1985 – the first match ended in a draw: Clyda Rovers 0-11, Kilworth 2-05.
• 1992 – the first match ended in a draw: Newtownshandrum 3-04, Dromina 1-10.
• 2020 – the first match ended in a draw: Harbour Rovers 1-17, Kilshannig 1-17.

Records and statistics[]

Teams[]

By decade[]

The most successful team of each decade, judged by the number of North Cork Junior A Hurling Championship titles, is as follows:

• 1930s: 3 for Milford (1933-35-36)
• 1940s: 3 for Newtownshandrum (1940-44-46)
• 1950s: 5 for Ballyhea (1950-53-55-58-59)
• 1960s: 3 each for Kildorrery (1962-63-69) and Kilworth (1961-66-67)
• 1970s: 3 for Kildorrery (1972-73-77)
• 1980s: 2 each for Kilworth (1980–83), Kildorrery (1984-88) and Clyda Rovers (1985–89)
• 1990s: 4 for Fermoy (1990-91-94-99)
• 2000s: 4 for Charleville (2001-02-07-08)
• 2010s: 2 each for Dromina (2014-17) and Harbour Rovers (2015-16)

Gaps[]

Top ten longest gaps between successive championship titles:

• 71 years: Dromina (1927-1998)
• 54 years: Shanballymore (1942-1996)
• 45 years: Milford (1936-1981)
• 30 years: Clyda Rovers (1989-2019)
• 26 years: Castletownroche (1928-1954)
• 25 years: Charleville (1945-1970)
• 24 years: Newtownshandrum (1968-1992)
• 24 years: Kildorrery (1988-2012)
• 23 years: Fermoy (1941-1964)
• 23 years: Fermoy (1964-1987)

Winners and finalists[]

The double[]

Two teams have won the North Cork Junior A Hurling Championship and the North Cork Junior A Football Championship in a single year as part of a hurling-Gaelic football double. Fermoy became the first club to win the double when they achieved the feat in 1941. Clyda Rovers became only the second team to complete the double in 1989.

Kildorrery, Mallow, Buttevant and Doneraile also hold the distinction of being dual North Cork Championship winning teams, however, these were not achieved in a single calendar year. Combined teams Glanworth-Harbour Rovers and Ballygiblin-Mitchelstown have also won North Cork titles in both codes.

External links[]

• Avondhu GAA website

References[]