1981 Cork Senior Hurling Championship

1981 Cork Senior Hurling Championship

Dates	10 May – 13 September 1981
Teams	17
Champions	St. Finbarr's (21st title) Dónal O'Grady (captain) Gerald McCarthy (manager)
Runners-up	Glen Rovers Teddy O'Brien (captain) Jerry O'Sullivan (manager)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16
Goals scored	68 (4.25 per match)
Points scored	305 (19.06 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Christy Ryan (6-05)
← 1980 (Previous) (Next) 1982 →

The 1981 Cork Senior Hurling Championship was the 93rd staging of the Cork Senior Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Cork County Board in 1887. The championship began on 10 May 1981 and ended on 13 September 1981.

St. Finbarr's entered the championship as the defending champions.

The final was played on 13 September 1981 at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork, between St. Finbarr's and Glen Rovers, in what was their second successive meeting in the final. St. Finbarr's won the match by 1-12 to 1-09 to claim their 21st championship title overall and a second successive title. ^{[1] [2]}

Christy Ryan was the championship's top scorer with 6-05.

Format change

At the County Convention on 25 January 1981, it was decided to end the three-year experiment of playing the championship on a league basis in the preliminary rounds and reverted to an open, seeded draw. ^[3] The four semi-finalists from the 1980 championship (Midleton, Blackrock, St. Finbarr's and Glen Rovers) were the four seeded teams and were separated in the quarter-final stage.

Team changes

To Championship

Promoted from the Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship

• Ballyhea

Results

First round

Avondhu v Éire Óg

10 May 1981First round	Avondhu	0-10 - 2-10	Éire Óg	Banteer
	D Coughlan 0-3, J Buckley 0-2, J Dennehy 0-2, P Shanahan 0-1, D Relihan 0-1, D Herlihy 0-1.		S O'Leary 1-4, D Desmond 0-2, M Flynn 0-1, D Flynn 0-1.	Referee: M O'Flaherty (Blackrock)

Second round

University College Cork v Carbery

10 May 1981Second round	University College Cork	6-11 - 2-02	Carbery	Liam MacCarthy Park, B'garvan
	F Ryan 2-1, P O'Leary 1-4, G Motherway 2-0, White 1-2, N English 0-2, G Sheehan 0-1, T Coakley 0-1.		D Healy 1-1, F O'Leary 1-0, P Crowley 0-1.	Referee: T Linehan (Inniscarra)

Sarsfields v Seandún

17 May 1981Second round	Sarsfields	1-18 - 1-06	Seandún	Riverstown
	B Óg Murphy 0-8, E Kelleher 0-7, T Fitzgerald 1-0, B Lotty 0-1, S Farrell 0-1, J Hartigan 0-1.		P O'Sullivan 1-3, W McCarthy 0-2, S Lucey 0-1.	Referee: M Keane (Cloughduv)

Glen Rovers v Imokilly

24 May 1981Second round	Glen Rovers	2-14 - 1-06	Imokilly	Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork
	T O'Neill 1-3, P Ring 0-6, P Horgan 1-2, J Hannigan 0-2, T Collins 0-1.		D Ahern 1-0, M Ahern 0-2, W Cashman 0-2, K Lane 0-1, T Collins 0-1.	Referee: M O'Flaherty (Blackrock)

Youghal v Éire Óg

24 May 1981Second round	Youghal	1-13 - 1-06	Éire Óg	Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork
	T Coyne 0-6, M Butler 1-1, P Grace 0-2, S O'Leary 0-1, S Ring 0-1, P Coyne 0-1, R Swayne 0-1.		D Desmond 0-4, C Malone 1-0, J Flynn 0-1, J O'Leary 0-1.	Referee: F Murphy (Blackrock)

Blackrock v Muskerry

24 May 1981Second round	Blackrock	3-15 - 2-06	Muskerry	Cloughduv
	R Cummins 2-0, P Moylan 0-6, É O'Sullivan 1-1, M Kilcoyne 0-3, É O'Donoghue 0-3, D Buckley 0-1, T Cashman 0-1.		C Kelly 2-2, M Ring 0-1, D Walsh 0-1, J Coakley 0-1, P Connell 0-1.	Referee: N Hallihan (Bandon)

St. Finbarr's v Na Piarsaigh

5 June 1981Second round	St. Finbarr's	5-08 - 4-09	Na Piarsaigh	Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork
	C Ryan 3-3, É Fitzpatrick 1-1, T Maher 1-0, C McCarthy 0-2, J Meyler 0-1, B O'Brien 0-1.		L O'Callaghan 2-1, P Barry 1-3, T O'Sullivan 1-2, John O'Sullivan 0-2, R McDonnell 0-1.	Referee: F Murphy (Blackrock)

Midleton v Carrigdhoun

21 June 1981Second round	Midleton	1-12 - 0-09	Carrigdhoun	Clonmult Memorial Park, Midleton
	K Hennessy 1-0, J Fenton 0-3, G Glavin 0-3, P Hartnett 0-2, S O'Brien 0-2, D Mulcahy 0-1, S O'Farrell 0-1.		F Coleman 0-2, G Hanley 0-2, J O'Donovan 0-2, J Reynolds 0-1, M Fitzpatrick 0-1, D Dunne 0-1.	Referee: D O'Connor (Bishopstown)

Nemo Rangers v Ballyhea

23 May 1981Second round

Nemo Rangers

2-07 - 4-10

Ballyhea

Castletownroche

Quarter-finals

St. Finbarr's v University College Cork

19 June 1981Quarter-final	St. Finbarr's	2-09 - 0-05	University College Cork	Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork
	C McCarthy 1-4, C Ryan 1-0, J Meyler 0-2, J Barry-Murphy 0-1, J Cremin 0-1, J Allen 0-1.		T Coakley 0-2, N English 0-1, M O'Donoghue 0-1, J Sheehan 0-1.

Glen Rovers v Youghal

21 June 1981Quarter-final

Glen Rovers

4-09 - 1-04 (declared void)

Youghal

Clonmult Memorial Park, Midleton

Blackrock v Ballyhea

28 June 1981Quarter-final	Blackrock	4-13 - 3-05	Ballyhea	Pirc Mac Gearailt, Fermoy
	R Cummins 2-1, E O'Sullivan 1-1, É O'Donoghue 1-1, D Buckley 0-4, T Cashman 0-3, T Deasy 0-2, P Moylan 0-1.			Referee: J Motherway (Aghada)

Glen Rovers v Youghal

18 July 1981Quarter-final replay	Glen Rovers	0-11 - 0-07	Youghal	Clonmult Memorial Park, Midleton
	P Horgan 0-6, J Hannigan 0-1, R Whitley 0-1, J Buckley 0-1, T Collins 0-1, P Ring 0-1.		P Grace 0-3, T Coyne 0-2, S O'Leary 0-1, A O'Regan 0-1.	Referee: F Murphy (Blackrock)

Midleton v Sarsfields

25 July 1981Quarter-final	Midleton	2-14 - 4-05	Sarsfields	Páirc Uí Chonaill, Cobh
	K Hennessy 2-3, J Fenton 0-3, S O'Brien 0-2, T McCarthy 0-2, J Hartnett 0-2, S O'Farrell 0-1, D Mulcahy 0-1.		B Óg Murphy 1-3, B Cotter 1-1, P O'Riordan 1-0, R Fitzgerald 1-0.	Referee: M O'Flaherty (Blackrock)

Semi-finals

Glen Rovers v Blackrock

23 August 1981Semi-final	Glen Rovers	5-09 - 3-11	Blackrock	Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork
	T Collins 2-2, T O'Neill 2-1, J Buckley 1-0, P Horgan 0-2, P Ring 0-2, D Coughlan 0-1, J Killeen 0-1.		É O'Donoghue 3-0, T Cashman 0-3, P Moylan 0-3, D Buckley 0-1, M Kilcoyne 0-1, É O'Sullivan 0-1, F Collins 0-1, R Cummins 0-1.	Referee: S O'Grady (Limerick)

St. Finbarr's v Midleton

29 August 1981Semi-final	St. Finbarr's	3-11 - 2-12	Midleton	Riverstown
	J Barry-Murphy 1-2, T Finn 1-1, C Ryan 1-1, C McCarthy 0-4, J Meyler 0-2, J Cremin 0-1.		J Fenton 0-8, J Hartnett 1-1, G Glavin 1-1, T McCarthy 0-1, K Hennessy 0-1.

Final

St. Finbarr's v Glen Rovers

13 September 1981Final	St. Finbarr's	1-12 - 1-09	Glen Rovers	Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork
	C Ryan 1-1, J Meyler 0-3, J Cremin 0-2, É Fitzpatrick 0-1, J Barry-Murphy 0-1, C McCarthy 0-1, V Twomey 0-1, T Maher 0-1, B O'Brien 0-1.		P Ring 1-3, J Buckley 0-3, P Horgan 0-2, L Mulcahy 0-1.	Referee: F Murphy (Blackrock)

Championship statistics

Top scorers

Top scorers overall

Rank	Player	Club	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Christy Ryan	St. Finbarr's	6-05	23	4	5.75
2	Éamonn O'Donoghue	Blackrock	4-04	16	3	5.33
3	Pat Horgan	Glen Rovers	1-12	15	4	3.75
	Paddy Ring	Glen Rovers	1-12	15	4	3.75
5	Ray Cummins	Blackrock	4-02	14	3	4.66
	Charlie McCarthy	St. Finbarr's	1-11	14	4	3.50
	Bertie Óg Murphy	Sarsfields	1-11	14	4	3.50
	John Fenton	Midleton	0-14	14	3	4.66
9	Kevin Hennessy	Midleton	3-04	13	3	4.33
	Tom O'Neill	Glen Rovers	3-04	13	4	3.25

Miscellaneous

• After two postponements due to inclement weather, the Midleton-Carrigdhoun second round game was finally played on 21 June 1981. That game featured a 28-minute delay as a number of Carrigdhoun players were caught in heavy traffic in Cork.
• At a meeting on 30 June 1981, the Cork County Board ordered that the quarter-final between Glen Rovers and Youghal be replayed. Glen Rovers won the initial game, however, Youghal objected, alleging that one of the Glen players, Red Crowley, was under suspension on the date of the match. The board upheld the objection after an investigation.
• Charlie McCarthy became the first St. Finbarr's player to win six Cork SHC medals.

References

1. "The Barrs - a history". St. Finbarr's GAA website. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
2. "Senior Hurling Finals 1970 - Present". Cork GAA Finals website. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
3. "Cork tried hurling and football groups stages at club level from 1978 to '80". Echo Live. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2022.