1953 Railway Cup Hurling Championship

1953 Railway Cup

Date	8 February 1953 - 17 March 1953
Teams	Connacht Leinster Munster Ulster
Champions	Munster (21st title) Christy Ring (captain)
Runners-up	Leinster
Tournament statistics
Matches played	3
Goals scored	30 (10 per match)
Points scored	35 (11.67 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Christy Ring (3-05)
← 1952 (Previous) (Next) 1954 →

The 1953 Railway Cup Hurling Championship was the 27th series of the inter-provincial hurling Railway Cup. ^[1] Three matches were played between 8 February 1953 and 17 March 1953 to decide the title. It was contested by Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster.

Munster entered the championship as the defending champions.

On 17 March 1953, Munster won the Railway Cup after a 5-07 to 5-05 defeat over Leinster in the final at Croke Park, Dublin. ^[2] It was their 21st Railway Cup title overall and their sixth title in succession.

Munster's Christy Ring was the Railway Cup top scorer with 3-05.

Results

Semi-finals

Munster v Ulster

8 February 1953Semi-final	Munster	8-06 - 1-05	Ulster	Croke Park, Dublin
	C Ring 3-2, D McCarthy 3-0, WJ Daly 1-3, P Kenny 1-0, J Fives 0-1.		K Armstrong 1-0, S McDonnell 0-1, A Coulter 0-1, B Elliott 0-1, C Lynn 0-1, P Mullaney 0-1.	Referee: D O'Shea (Dublin)

Leinster v Connacht

22 February 1953Semi-final	Leinster	7-09 - 4-03	Connacht	O'Moore Park, Portlaoise
	Paddy Kehoe 3-3, N Wheeler 2-1, T Maher 1-2, T Flood 1-1, C Murphy 0-1, N Rackard 0-1.		Nolan 3-0, McInerney 1-0, J Gallagher 0-2, Killeen 0-1.	Attendance: 8,415 Referee: C Murphy (Cork)

Final

Munster v Leinster

17 March 1953Final	Munster	5-07 - 5-05	Leinster	Croke Park, Dublin
	S Bannon 2-0, P Stakelum 1-3, M Nugent 1-0, D McCarthy 1-0, C Ring 0-3, WJ Daly 0-1.		N Rackard 2-0, N Wheeler 2-0, T Flood 1-1, Walsh 0-2, B Rackard 0-1, N Allen 0-1.	Attendance: 41,180 Referee: J Gallagher (Galway)

Railway Cup statistics

Top scorers

Overall

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Christy Ring	Munster	3-05	14	2	7.00
2	Ned Wheeler	Leinster	4-01	13	2	6.50
3	Derry McCarthy	Munster	4-00	12	2	6.00
	Paddy Kehoe	Leinster	3-03	12	2	6.00

Single game

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	Paddy Kehoe	Leinster	3-03	12	Connacht
2	Christy Ring	Munster	3-02	11	Ulster
3	Derry McCarthy	Munster	3-00	9	Ulster
	P. Nolan	Connacht	3-00	9	Leinster

Miscellaneous

• In the semi-final between Munster and Ulster, the referee, Dick O'Shea, blew the full-time whistle with 8 minutes of the second half remaining. Munster were leading by 22 points at that stage.

Sources

• Donegan, Des, The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).

References

1. Neville, Conor (12 December 2016). "The fall and fall of the Railway Cup". ball.ie. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
2. "Munster Railway Cup-winning teams". Munster GAA website. Retrieved 27 December 2018.