1939 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

1939 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Championship details
Dates	7 May – 3 September 1939
Teams	13
All-Ireland champions
Winning team	Kilkenny (12th win)
Captain	Jimmy Walsh
All-Ireland Finalists
Losing team	Cork
Captain	Jack Lynch
Provincial champions
Munster	Cork
Leinster	Kilkenny
Ulster	Not Played
Connacht	Not Played
Championship statistics
No. matches played	12
Goals total	91 (7.58 per game)
Points total	116 (9.66 per game)
Top Scorer	Jim Langton (1-20)
All-Star Team	See here
← 1938 1940 →

The 1939 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 53rd staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The championship began on 7 May 1939 and ended on 3 September 1939.

Dublin entered the championship as the defending champions, however, they were beaten by Kilkenny in the Leinster final.

The All-Ireland final was played on 3 September 1939 at Croke Park in Dublin, between Kilkenny and Cork, in what was their first meeting in a final in nine years. Kilkenny won the match by 2-07 to 3-03 to claim their 12th championship title overall and a first title since 1935. The 1939 All-Ireland final remains one of the most iconic of all time. ^[1] Played on the day that Britain declared war on Germany, the climax of the match took place during a terrific thunderstorm and earned the sobriquet of the "thunder and lightning final". ^{[2] [3]}

Kilkenny's Jim Langton was the championship's top scorer with 1-20.

Teams

A total of thirteen teams contested the championship, including all of the teams from the 1938 championship. Wexford re-entered the championship after a one-year absence.

Team summaries

Team	Colours	Most recent success
		All-Ireland	Provincial	League
Clare	Saffron and blue	1914	1932
Cork	Red and white	1931	1931	1929-30
Dublin	Navy and blue	1938	1938	1938-39
Galway	Maroon and white	1923	1922	1930-31
Kilkenny	Black and amber	1935	1937	1932-33
Laois	Blue and white	1915	1915
Limerick	Green and white	1936	1936	1937-38
Meath	Green and gold
Offaly	Green, white and gold
Tipperary	Blue and gold	1937	1937	1927-28
Waterford	Blue and white		1938
Westmeath	Maroon and white
Wexford	Purple and gold	1910	1918

Results

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

First round

Meath v Westmeath

7 May 1939First round	Meath	6-04 - 1-03	Westmeath	Páirc Tailteann, Navan
	M Falvey 3-1, P Farrell 2-0, M Leonard 1-1, T Donnelly 0-2.		T McGrath 1-2, J Skehal 0-1.

Wexford v Offaly

7 May 1939First round	Wexford	4-07 - 1-04	Offaly	Nowlan Park, Kilkenny
	K Whelan 4-0, J Foley 0-4, T Butler 0-3.		M Dooley 1-0, P Egan 0-2, P Geoghegan 0-1, J Carroll 0-1.

Second round

Laois v Meath

18 June 1939Second round	Laois	12-07 - 4-02	Meath	O'Connor Park, Tullamore
	W Delaney 4-1, P Norton 4-0, T Fitzpatrick 2-2, Nolan 1-0, P Ruschitzko 1-0, P Farrell 0-2, F Jones 0-1, Dunphy 0-1.		Moran 1-1, Farrell 1-1, McInerney 1-0, Farnan 1-0.

Wexford received a bye in this round.

Semi-finals

Wexford v Dublin

18 June 1939Semi-final	Wexford	2-03 - 10-07	Dublin	Wexford Park, Wexford
	K Whelan 1-0, J Foley 1-0, A Kealy 0-1, P Boggan 0-1, D Cloney 0-1.		B Loughnane 3-1, M Brophy 3-0, C Downes 1-3, M McDonald 1-2, P Doody 1-0, P McSweeney 1-0, J Byrne 0-1.

Kilkenny v Laois

2 July 1939Semi-final	Kilkenny	6-09 - 1-05	Laois	Nowlan Park, Kilkenny
	J Kelly 2-0, J Langton 1-3, T Leahy 1-2, S O'Brien 1-0, J Walsh 1-0, P Phelan 0-3, J Mulcahy 0-1.		W Delaney 1-0, D Walsh 0-2, P Farrell 0-1, T Fitzpatrick 0-1, A Bergin 0-1.

Final

Kilkenny v Dublin

16 July 1939Final	Kilkenny	2-12 - 4-03	Dublin	O'Moore Park, Portlaoise
	J Langton 0-6, J Mulcahy 1-1, P Phelan 1-2, T Leahy 0-1, J Walsh 0-1, B Hinks 0-1,		P McSweeney 3-0, M Brophy 1-0, J McDonald 0-2, H Gray 0-1.

Munster Senior Hurling Championship

First round

Tipperary v Limerick

21 May 1939First round	Tipperary	2-00 - 3-03	Limerick	Thurles Sportsfield, Thurles
	D Murphy 2-0,		P MacMahon 2-0, M Hickey 1-0, M Mackey 0-2, T Ryan 0-1.

Semi-finals

Cork v Waterford

25 June 1939Semi-final	Cork	7-04 - 4-03	Waterford	FitzGerald Park, Killarney
	T O'Sullivan 3-0, M Brennan 2-0, B Ryng 1-0, D Moylan 1-0, Lynch 0-2, B Dineen 0-1, W Campbell 0-1.		J Keane 1-0, L Byrne 1-0, D Goode 1-0, N Hardy 1-0, Moynihan 0-2, A Fleming 0-1.

Limerick v Clare

9 July 1939Semi-final	Limerick	5-05 - 1-01	Clare	Gaelic Grounds, Limerick
	P McMahon 3-0, M McCarthy 2-1, M Mackey 0-3, J Mackey 0-1.		Flynn 1-0, Murphy 0-1.

Final

Cork v Limerick

30 July 1939Final	Cork	4-03 - 3-04	Limerick	Thurles Sportsfield, Thurles
	T O'Sullivan 2-0, J Lynch 1-2, B Dineen 1-0, W Campbell 0-1.		J McCarthy 2-0, P McMahon 1-0, M Mackey 0-3, M Ryan 0-1.

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Semi-final

Kilkenny v Galway

6 August 1939Semi-final	Kilkenny	1-16 - 3-01	Galway	St. Cronan's Park, Roscrea
	J Langton 0-8, S O'Brien 1-0, J Walsh 0-2, J Mulcahy 0-2, T Leahy 0-1, P Phelan 0-1, T Leahy 0-1, B Brannigan 0-1.		S Corcoran 1-1, MJ Flaherty 1-0, P O'Connor 1-0,	Referee: M Hennessy (Clare)

Final

Kilkenny v Cork

3 September 1939Final	Kilkenny	2-07 - 3-03	Cork	Croke Park
	J Phelan 2-0, J Langton 0-3, T Leahy 0-2, J O'Brien 0-1, J Kelly 0-1.		T O'Sullivan 2-1, J Lynch 1-2.	Attendance: 39,302 Referee: J Flaherty (Offaly)

Championship statistics

Scoring statistics

Top scorers overall

Rank	Player	Club	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Jim Langton	Kilkenny	1-20	23	4	5.75
2	Ted O'Sullivan	Cork	7-01	22	3	7.33
3	Paddy McMahon	Limerick	6-00	18	3	6.00
4	Willie Delaney	Laois	5-01	16	2	8.00
5	K. Whelan	Wexford	5-00	15	2	7.50
6	Paddy McSweeney	Dublin	4-00	12	2	6.00
	Mick Brophy	Dublin	4-00	12	2	6.00
	Paddy Norton	Laois	4-00	12	2	6.00
	Jack Lynch	Cork	2-06	12	3	4.00
10	Mick Falvey	Meath	3-01	10	2	5.00
	Bill Loughnane	Dublin	3-01	10	2	5.00
	P. Farrell	Meath	3-01	10	2	5.00

Top scorers in a single game

Rank	Player	Club	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	Willie Delaney	Laois	4-01	13	Meath
2	Paddy Norton	Laois	4-00	12	Meath
	K. Whelan	Wexford	4-00	12	Offaly
4	Mick Falvey	Meath	3-01	10	Westmeath
	Bill Loughnane	Dublin	3-01	10	Wexford
6	Paddy McSweeney	Dublin	3-00	9	Kilkenny
	Ted O'Sullivan	Cork	3-00	9	Waterford
	Paddy McMahon	Limerick	3-00	9	Clare
	Mick Brophy	Dublin	3-00	9	Wexford
10	Timmy Fitzpatrick	Laois	2-02	8	Meath
	Jim Langton	Kilkenny	0-08	8	Galway

Miscellaneous

• Kilkenny's victory over Cork in the All-Ireland final was the fourth time that Kilkenny beat them by just a single point. Previous one-point wins came in 1904, 1907 and 1912. Among the attendance was the poet Louis MacNeice who was visiting Dublin.

Sources

• Corry, Eoghan, The GAA Book of Lists (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
• Donegan, Des, The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).
• Horgan, Tim, Christy Ring: Hurling's Greatest (The Collins Press, 2007).
• Nolan, Pat, Flashbacks: A Half Century of Cork Hurling (The Collins Press, 2000).
• Sweeney, Éamonn, Munster Hurling Legends (The O'Brien Press, 2002).

References

1. McEvoy, Enda (3 September 2014). "75 years ago thunder rolled at Croke Park on eve of world war". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
2. Roche, Barry (24 March 2017). "Epic 'Thunder and Lightning Final' recalled at auction in Cork". Irish Times. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
3. Fahey, Denis (2 September 2014). "Thunder, lightning, hurling, war and an Emergency". Irish Times. Retrieved 26 August 2021.