Sport: | Hurling | ||
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Irish: | An Dún [1] | ||
Nickname(s): | The Mournemen | ||
County board: | Down GAA | ||
Home venue(s): | Páirc Esler, Newry [1] | ||
Recent competitive record | |||
Last championship title: | 2022 | ||
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The Down county hurling team represents Down GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association, in the Gaelic sport of hurling. The team competes in the Joe McDonagh Cup and the National Hurling League.
Down's home ground is Páirc Esler, Newry. The team's manager is Ronan Sheehan.
The team last won the Ulster Senior Championship in 1997, but has never won the All-Ireland Senior Championship or the National League.
Down played in the Leinster Minor Hurling Championship for three years in the 1970s, even playing Antrim in an unusual Leinster semi-final at Croke Park in 1979.
Although Down had not won the All-Ireland B championship in four final appearances, when the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship was revived, Down won titles in 1992, 1995 and 1997, losing the All-Ireland semi-finals by 14, 11 and 16 points.
Down defeated Kilkenny in a Division 1 match in 1993 by a scoreline of 1–12 to 1–11.
Down hurlers won the Christy Ring Cup for the first time in 2013, their greatest All-Ireland level success to date. This entitled them to enter the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship; however, Down opted to remain in the 2nd on this occasion.
In 2020, Down caused an upset in the Christy Ring Cup by knocking Offaly out in the semi-final. The team did so in a first ever inter-county hurling penalty shootout. [2] [3] The final against Kildare was scheduled for the one hundredth anniversary of Bloody Sunday, with promotion to the 2021 Joe McDonagh Cup achieved by both finalists. [4]
In 2007, the GAA announced that a hurling team from "South Down" (i.e. excluding the Ards peninsula) would compete in parallel to the main Down team, [5] to encourage hurling in an area of growing population where the game had not been strong. [6] While players from all of Down were eligible for the main Down team, Ards players could not play for South Down. The new team competed in the 2008 National Hurling League, recording their first win by beating Cavan at Ballela, scoring 4–15 to Cavan's 0–9. South Down then competed in the 2008 Nicky Rackard Cup and in the Lory Meagher Cup until 2011.
The Christy Ring Cup is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. Originally introduced as a second-tier competition, it is currently the third tier overall in the inter-county hurling championship system. Each year, the champions of the Christy Ring Cup are promoted to the Joe McDonagh Cup, and the lowest finishing team is relegated to the Nicky Rackard Cup. The competition is named in honour of Christy Ring, a legendary player from Cork.
The Nicky Rackard Cup is the fourth tier of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Each year, the champion team in the Nicky Rackard Cup is promoted to the Christy Ring Cup, and the lowest finishing team is relegated to the Lory Meagher Cup.
The Tyrone County Board, or Tyrone GAA, is one of the 32 county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
The 2006 Christy Ring Cup was the second staging of the Christy Ring Cup, the Gaelic Athletic Association's inter-county hurling tournament for second tier teams. The cup began on 3 June 2006 and ended on 6 August 2006.
The 2007 Christy Ring Cup began on Saturday, 9 June 2007. The Christy Ring Cup is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association since 2005 for middle-ranking hurling teams in Ireland. The 2007 competition was won by Westmeath GAA.
The 2018 Christy Ring Cup was the 14th staging of the Christy Ring Cup hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005. It is the third tier of senior inter-county hurling. The competition began on 12 May 2018 and ended on 23 June 2018.
The Joe McDonagh Cup is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It forms the second tier of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship and is the second highest level of inter-county championship hurling competition in Ireland. The last of the five tiers to be established, the competition was contested for the first time in 2018.
The 2018 Nicky Rackard Cup was the 14th staging of the Nicky Rackard Cup hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005. It was the fourth tier of senior inter-county hurling as of 2018.
The 2019 Christy Ring Cup was the 15th staging of the Christy Ring Cup hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005. It is the third tier of senior inter-county hurling.
The 2019 Nicky Rackard Cup is the 15th staging of the Nicky Rackard Cup hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005. It is the fourth tier of senior inter-county hurling as of 2019.
The Meath county hurling team represents Meath in hurling and is governed by Meath GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the Christy Ring Cup and the National Hurling League.
The Derry county hurling team represents Derry GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association, in the Gaelic sport of hurling. The team competes in the Christy Ring Cup and the National Hurling League.
The Armagh county hurling team represents Armagh GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association, in the Gaelic sport of hurling. The team competes in the Nicky Rackard Cup and the National Hurling League.
The Donegal county hurling team represents Donegal in hurling and is governed by Donegal GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the Nicky Rackard Cup and the National Hurling League.
The Mayo county hurling team represents Mayo in hurling and is governed by Mayo GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the Christy Ring Cup and the National Hurling League. It formerly competed in the abolished Connacht Senior Hurling Championship.
The Roscommon county hurling team represents Roscommon in hurling and is governed by Roscommon GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the Christy Ring Cup and the National Hurling League. It formerly competed in the abolished Connacht Senior Hurling Championship, finishing as runner-up in the last competition 1999.
The London county hurling team represents London in hurling and is governed by London GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the Christy Ring Cup and the National Hurling League. It formerly competed in the Ulster and Leinster Senior Hurling Championships.
The 2020 Christy Ring Cup was the 16th staging of the Christy Ring Cup hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005. It is the third tier of hurling as of 2020.
The 2023 Joe McDonagh Cup was the sixth staging of the Joe McDonagh Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2018.
The 2023 Christy Ring Cup was the 19th staging of the Christy Ring Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005. The competition began on 16 April 2023 and ended in June 2023.
The GAA confirmed yesterday that second teams from Down and Dublin would compete in the Nicky Rackard Cup in 2008 [...] non-Ards (Down) and Fingal (Dublin) sides will be entered "on a basis determined by the Central Competitions Control Committee".
The footballers are 'the Mournemen' while the hurlers are 'the Ardsmen', even though there are many Down footballers from outside the Kingdom of Mourne and a few decent hurlers on 'the mainland'.