Wexford Senior Hurling Championship

Wexford Senior Hurling Championship
Current season or competition: 2023 Wexford Senior Hurling Championship
Irish	Craobh Iomána Sinsearach Loch Garman
Code	Hurling
Founded	1889;135 years ago (1889)
Region	Wexford (GAA)
Trophy	Dr. R. J. Bowe Cup
No. of teams	12
Title holders	Ferns St Aidan's (1st title)
Most titles	Rathnure (20 titles)
Sponsors	Pettitt's SuperValu
TV partner(s)	TG4
Official website	Wexford GAA

The Wexford Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Pettitt's SuperValu Senior Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Wexford GAA clubs. The Wexford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1889.

Ferns St Aidan's are the title holders (2022) after defeating St Martin's by 1-20 to 0-22 in the final.

History

The title has been won at least once by 28 different teams. The all-time record-holders are Rathnure who have won a total of 20 titles.

Since 1994 the Wexford County Championship has been sponsored by Wexford-based supermarket Pettitt's SuperValu. It is one of the longest sponsorship deals of any county championship in Ireland. ^[1]

Format

The series of games are played during the spring and autumn months with the county final currently^{[ when? ]} being played at Chadwicks Wexford Park in October. Initially played as a knock-out competition, the championship currently^{[ when? ]} uses a round robin format followed by a knock-out stage.

The Wexford County Championship features a group stage followed by a knock-out stage. Each team in the championship is guaranteed at least five games. Relegation and promotion also takes place with the second tier Wexford Intermediate Hurling Championship.

Group stage

Group stage: The 12 club teams are divided into two groups of six. Over the course of the group stage, each team plays once against the others in the group, resulting in each team being guaranteed at least five games. Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The teams are ranked in the group stage table by points gained, then scoring difference and then their head-to-head record. The top four teams in each group progress to the quarter-finals.

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals: The top four teams in each group contest this round. The 1st-placed teams play the 4th-placed teams from the other group and the 2nd-placed teams play the 3rd-placed teams from the other group. The four winners from these four games advance to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals: The four quarter-final winners contest this round. The two winners from these two games advance to the final.

Final: The two semi-final winners contest the final. The winning team are declared champions.

Relegation

The two bottom-placed teams from the group stage take part in a relegation play-offs, with the losing team being relegated to the Wexford Intermediate Hurling Championship.

Qualification for subsequent competitions

At the end of the championship, the winning team qualify to the subsequent Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship, the winner of which progresses to the All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship.

Teams

2024 Teams

Team	Location	Colours	In championship since	Championship titles	Last championship title
Cloughbawn	Clonroche	Green and white	2024	3	1993
Crossabeg–Ballymurn	Wexford	White and green	2021	0	—
Faythe Harriers	Wexford	Purple and gold	?	5	2001
Ferns St Aidan's	Ferns	Red and white	?	1	2022
Glynn–Barntown	Glynn and Barntown	Blue and green	?	0	—
Naomh Éanna	Gorey	Green, white and yellow	?	2	2023
Oulart–The Ballagh	Oulart and The Ballagh	Black and red	2023	13	2016
Oylegate–Glenbrien	Oylegate and Glenbrien	Blue and white	2022	1	1963
Rapparees	Enniscorthy	Red and yellow	?	2	2021
Shelmaliers	Castlebridge	Black and amber	?	2	2020
St Anne's	Rathangan	Blue and navy	?	2	2000
St Martin's	Murrintown	Maroon and white	?	4	2019

Honours

The winning team is presented with the Dr. R. J. Bowe Cup. A native of Enniscorthy, Bowe served as team doctor to the Wexford senior hurling team for a period of 25 years from the 1960s until the late 1980s. ^[2]

The Wexford Senior Hurling Championship winners qualify for the subsequent Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship. A team representing Wexford has won the provincial title on 10 occasions.

The Wexford County Championship is an integral part of the wider Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship. The winners of the Wexford county final join the champions of the other hurling counties to contest the provincial championship.

List of finals

Year	Winner	Score	Opponent	Score	Date	Location	Teams
1887
1888
1889	Blackwater	2-06	Oulart	0-00	16 Sept	Kilthomas	Capitan of Oulart: Murphy
1890	Blackwater
1891	Crossbeg
1892
1893
1894
1895	Castlebridge
1896	Castlebridge
1897
1898	Blackwater
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903	Slaney Harriers
1904	Castlebridge
1905	Rathgarogue
1906
1907	Castlebridge
1908	Castlebridge
1909	Castlebridge
1910	Ballymurn
1911	Ballymurn
1912	Ross-Rathgarogue
1913	New Ross
1914	Enniscorthy Rapparees
1915	Glenbrien
1916	Glenbrien
1917
1918	Castlebridge	1-05	Glenbrien	0-02
1919	Crossabeg
1920
1921	Screen
1922
1923
1924	St Anne's
1925
1926	Adamstown	8-02	Castlebridge	4-00	10 Apr		Adamstown - J. Furlong (captain), R. Eustace (goal), J. McGrath, J. L. Tector, J. Foley, W. Kelly, M. Byrne, M. McDonald, J. McDonald, W. Carroll, T. O'Brien, J. O'Brien, W. Furlong, P. Lawlor, M. Lawlor
1927	Adamstown	5-01	Sally Beachers	2-06	19 Jan	Bellefield	Adamstown - J. Furlong (captain), R. Eustace (goal), J. McGrath, J. McDonald, M. McDonald, M. Byrne, J. Foley, W. Carroll, W. Furlong, J. L. Tector, W. Kelly, T. Doyle, M. Lawlor, P. Lawlor, J. McDonagh
1928	Sally Beachers
1929	St Fintan's	0-08	John Street Volunteers	0-06
1930	Sally Beachers
1931	Adamstown	5-03	Sally Beachers	4-02	6 Dec	Barrett's Park	Adamstown - R. Eustace (goal), J. Cooney, J. McDonald (captain), M. O'Neill, J. Brennan, T. Quigley, T. Doyle, J. Morrissey, J. McDonagh, J. L. Tector, T. Butler, T. Foley, J. Doyle, B. Nugent, C. Bradley. Sub: N. McDonald
1932	Adamstown	3-07	St Fintan's	3-02	30 May	Wexford Park	Adamstowm - R. Eustace (goal), J. Cooney, J. McDonald (captain), J. Brennan, T. Doyle, T. Quigley, M. O'Neill, B. Nugent, B. Bradley, T. Foley, J. Morrissey, J. L. Tector, T. Butler, J. Doyle, J. McDonagh. Subs: P. Doyle, P. Furlong, P. Moloney, M. Whelan
1933	Adamstown	4-04	Sally Beachers Castlebridge	1-01	18 Sept	Wexford Park	Adamstown - J. McDonald, R. Eustace, J. Doyle, T. Furlong, J. L. Tector, T. Foley, T. Doyle, C. Bradley, B. Nugent, J. Morrissey, P. Moloney, T. Quigley, M. Neill, J. Conney, J. Brennan; Sally Beachers - J. Fogarty, J. Dalton, R. Browne, P. Browne, J. Kinsella, A. Breen, P. Breen, J. Doyle, M. Murphy, E. Roche, J. Murphy, M. Byrne, F. Kinsella, K. Murphy, M. Whelan
1934	St Fintan's	2-04	Adamstown	1-06	7 Oct	Wexford Park	Adamstown - R. Eustace (goal), J. Cooney, J. McDonald (captain), M. O'Neill, B. Nugent, T. Quigley, T. Furlong, T. Foley, J. Brennan, T. Butler, J. Morrissey, J. Doyle, J. L. Tector, L. Furlong, J. Foley
1935	Adamstown	1-08	St Fintan's	1-01	24 Nov	Wexford Park	Adamstown - R. Eustace, M. Foley, J. McDonald (captain), M. O'Neill, M. Galway, T. Quigley, L. Furlong, B. Nugent, J. Doyle, T. Butler, T. Furlong, J. Foley, M. Whelan, T. Foley, J. L. Tector
1936	Adamstown	0-05 (RP 7-03)	St Fintan's	1-02 (RP 4-04)	15 May and RP 11 July	Barrett's Park	Adamstown - R. Eustace, M. Foley, J. McDonald, M. O'Neill, M. Whelan, T. Quigley, M. Redmond, J. Foley, B. Nugent, T. Doyle, T. Butler, T. Foley, J. L. Tector, T. Shannon, T. Furlong. Adamstown (RP) - R. Eustace, M. Foley, J. McDonald, M. O'Neill, M. Whelan, T. Quigley, J. Redmond, J. Foley, B. Nugent, T. Doyle, T. Butler, T. Foley, L. Tector, T. Shannon, J. Doyle
1937	Adamstown	6-05	St Fintan's	1-01	14 Nov	Bellefield	Adamstown - R. Eustace (goal), M. Foley, J. McDonald Snr, M. O'Neill, J. McDonald Jnr, Tom Doyle, J. Redmond, B. Nugent, J. Foley, F. Galway, Tom Butler, Tom Foley, Kevin Whelan, Tom Shannon and Jimmy Doyle; St Fintan's - P. Sinnott (goal), J. Lynch, W. Boggan, J. Dillon, J. Murphy (captain), N. Boggan, J. Quirke, E. Roche, P. Boggan, P. Culleton, T. Rowe, M. O'Reilly, J. Furlong, W. Roche, F. Murphy. Sub - J. Devereux
1938	Unfinished
1939	Geraldine O'Hanrahans	4-05	Ferns St Aidan's	3-03
1940	Adamstown	4-01	Ferns St Aidan's	3-01	8 Sept	Wexford Park	Adamstown - T. Doyle (captain), R. Eustace (goal), J. Redmond, M. O'Neill, W. Walsh, M. Foley, B. Nugent, J. McDonald, J. Foley, T. Foley, T. Butler, T. Shannon, M. Whelan, T. Foley, K. Whelan. Subs - Joe Bradley, T. McCabe; Ferns - P. Byrne (captain), J. Doran (goal), E. Doran, M. Berney, E. Kiely, W. Murphy, J. Foley, J. Kenny, A. Kenny, M. Doyle, M. Gahan, T. Leary, J. Treacy, M. Kavanagh, A. Kiely
1941	Adamstown	5-05	Ferns St Aidan's	1-02	14 Sept	Barrett's Park	Adamstown - D. Eustace (goal), T. Foley, T. Shannon, T. McCabe, M. Whelan, P. Walsh, Tom Butler, Jn. Foley, Thos. Foley, J. Redmond, M. Foley, J. McDonald, B. Nugent, P. O'Neill, W. Walsh; Ferns - D. Doran (goal), E. Kiely, R. Doran, John Gahan, J. Kenny, M. Bernie, James Nolan, Wm. Murphy, Patk. Byrne, Joe Treacy, M. Gahan, A. Kiely, A. Kenny, C. Furlong, M. Kavanagh
1942	Adamstown	6-06	Rathnure	4-01	30 Aug	Barrett's Park	Adamstown - T. Butler, R. Eustace (goal), L. Shannon, J. Shannon, K. Whelan, Tom Foley, John Foley, W. Foley, P. Walshe, M. Foley, Ben Nugent, J. Redmond, M. O'Neill, M. Whelan; Rathnure - A. Somers (goal), J. Morrissey, P. Quigley, J. Murphy, T. Connors, S. Redmond, J. Blackburne, W. Murphy, M. Redmond, P. O'Connor, N. Rackard, Wm. Murphy, M. Holohan, D. Taylor, S. Murphy
1943	New Ross United		St Martin's
1944	New Ross United		Enniscorthy District
1945	New Ross United		St Martin's/St Fintan's
1946	St Aidan's, Enniscorthy		Rathnure
1947	St Aidan's, Enniscorthy		Rathnure
1948	Rathnure	3-05	St Aidan's, Enniscorthy	0-02
1949	Cloughbawn		Rathnure
1950	Rathnure	5-10	St Aidan's, Enniscorthy	2-06
1951	Cloughbawn		Horeswood
1952	St Aidan's, Enniscorthy		Horeswood
1953	St Aidan's, Enniscorthy		Geraldine O'Hanrahans
1954	St Aidan's, Enniscorthy		Horeswood
1955	Rathnure	2-09	St Aidan's, Enniscorthy	2-05
1956	St Aidan's, Enniscorthy
1957	St Aidan's, Enniscorthy	5-10	Rathnure	2-05
1958	St Aidan's, Enniscorthy
1959	St Aidan's, Enniscorthy		Faythe Harriers
1960	Faythe Harriers
1961	Rathnure		St Aidan's, Enniscorthy
1962	Faythe Harriers
1963	Oylegate–Glenbrien		Horeswood
1964	Enniscorthy Shamrocks		Faythe Harriers
1965	Faythe Harriers		Rathnure
1966	Geraldine O'Hanrahans		Enniscorthy Shamrocks
1967	Rathnure		Buffers Alley
1968	Buffers Alley	4-08	Faythe Harriers	5-03		Bellefield
1969	Enniscorthy Shamrocks		Ferns St Aidan's
1970	Buffers Alley		Enniscorthy Shamrocks
1971	Rathnure	4-09	Enniscorthy District	3-08		Bellefield
1972	Rathnure		Rapparees			New Ross
1973	Rathnure		Buffers Alley
1974	Rathnure		Oulart–The Ballagh
1975	Buffers Alley		Oulart–The Ballagh
1976	Buffers Alley		Rapparees
1977	Rathnure		Buffers Alley
1978	Rapparees		Rathnure
1979	Rathnure		Faythe Harriers
1980	Rathnure		Buffers Alley
1981	Faythe Harriers	2-10	Buffers Alley	2-09		Bellefield
1982	Buffers Alley	1-09	Oulart–The Ballagh	1-06
1983	Buffers Alley	1-13	St Martin's	1-01
1984	Buffers Alley	2-05	Faythe Harriers	0-05
1985	Buffers Alley	1-14	Faythe Harriers	1-12
1986	Rathnure	2-16	Buffers Alley	1-14
1987	Rathnure	2-06	Cloughbawn	0-09
1988	Buffers Alley	2-10	Rathnure	1-05
1989	Buffers Alley	3-16	Oulart–The Ballagh	2-13
1990	Rathnure	2-08	Cloughbawn	1-08
1991	Buffers Alley	2-10	Faythe Harriers	1-07
1992	Buffers Alley	1-12	Oulart–The Ballagh	1-05
1993	Cloughbawn	2-10	Rapparees	2-07
1994	Oulart–The Ballagh	1-14	St Martin's	0-16
1995	Oulart–The Ballagh	2-15	Glynn-Barntown	2-09
1996	Rathnure	1-12	Rapparees	0-07
1997	Oulart–The Ballagh	2-11	Glynn–Barntown	0-14
1998	Rathnure	0-13	Rapparees	0-12
1999	St Martin's	1-11	Rathnure	1-09
2000	St Anne's	2-12	Oulart–The Ballagh	2-10
2001	Faythe Harriers	0-13	Rapparees	0-09
2002	Rathnure	1-10	Cloughbawn	2-05
2003	Rathnure	3-09	Glynn–Barntown	1-13
2004	Oulart–The Ballagh	1-17	Rathnure	1-10
2005	Oulart–The Ballagh	1-15	St Martin's	1-09
2006	Rathnure	0-16	Oulart–The Ballagh	1-13 (draw)
	Rathnure	1-12	Oulart–The Ballagh	0-09 (replay)
2007	Oulart–The Ballagh	4-14	Buffers Alley	2-06
2008	St Martin's	1-13	Oulart–The Ballagh	1-08
2009	Oulart–The Ballagh	3-12	Buffers Alley	1-13
2010	Oulart–The Ballagh	1-14	St Martin's	0-06			Oulart–The Ballagh - Keith Rossiter (Captain)
2011	Oulart–The Ballagh	1-10	Rathnure	0-11
2012 [3]	Oulart–The Ballagh	2-12	Faythe Harriers	0-13	14 Oct		Oulart–The Ballagh - Keith Rossiter (Captain)
2013 [4] [5]	Oulart–The Ballagh	3-12	Ferns St Aidan's	1-16	20 Oct	Wexford Park
2014 [6] [7]	Shelmaliers	3-08	St Anne's	1-11	26 Oct	Wexford Park
2015 [8]	Oulart–The Ballagh	2-15	St Martin's	0-13	25 October	Wexford Park
2016 [9]	Oulart–The Ballagh	0-17	Cloughbawn	1-11	16 October 2016	Wexford Park
2017 [10]	St Martin's	2-16	Oulart–The Ballagh	1-09	22 October 2017	Wexford Park	L White; W Devereux, P O'Connor, C Firman; D Waters, A Maddock, P Kelly; H O'Connor, M Maloney; J Firman, Joe O'Connor, Jack O'Connor; C Lyng, R O'Connor, D Codd.
2018 [11]	Naomh Éanna	2-11	St Martin's	0-13	21 October 2018	Wexford Park
2019	St Martin's	1-15	St Anne's Rathangan	1-13	27 October 2019	Wexford Park
2020	Shelmaliers	3-18	Naomh Éanna	3-11	23 August 2020	Wexford Park
2021	Rapparees	6-18	St Anne's Rathangan	1-17	19 September 2021	Wexford Park
2022	Ferns St Aidan's	1-20	St Martin's	0-22	14 August 2022	Wexford Park
2023	Naomh Éanna	2-18	Oylegate–Glenbrien	2-12	20 August 2023	Wexford Park

Roll of honour

#	Club	Wins	Years won
1	Rathnure	20	1948, 1950, 1955, 1961, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006
2	Oulart–The Ballagh	13	1994, 1995, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016
3	Buffers Alley	12	1968, 1970, 1975, 1976, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992
4	Adamstown	11	1926, 1927, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1937 1940, 1941, 1942
5	St Aidan's, Enniscorthy	9	1946, 1947, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959
6	Faythe Harriers	5	1960, 1962, 1965, 1981, 2001
7	Geraldine O'Hanrahans	4	1943, 1944, 1945,1966
	St Martin's		1999, 2008, 2017, 2019
9	Blackwater	3	1889, 1890, 1898
	Cloughbawn		1949, 1951, 1993
	Castlebridge		1904, 1910, 1919
12	Rapparees	2	1978, 2021
	Glenbrien		1915, 1916
	St Anne's		1924, 2000
	Sally Beachers		1928, 1930
	St Fintan's		1929, 1934
	Shamrocks		1964, 1969
	Shelmaliers		2014, 2020
	Naomh Éanna		2018, 2023
20	Slaney Harriers	1	1903
	Rathgarogue		1905
	Ross/Rathgarogue		1912
	New Ross		1913
	Red Rapparees		1914
	Ballymurn		1911
	Crossabeg		1918
	O'Hanrahans, New Ross		1939
	Oylegate–Glenbrien		1963
	Ferns St Aidan's		2022

Records and statistics

Managers

Managers in the Wexford Championship are involved in the day-to-day running of the team, including the training, team selection, and sourcing of players. Their influence varies from club-to-club and is related to the individual club committees. The manager is assisted by a team of two or three selectors and a backroom team consisting of various coaches.

Winning managers

Manager	Team	Wins	Winning years
Séamus Murphy	Rathnure	1	1996, 2002, 2003
Willie Sunderland	Oulart–The Ballagh	1	2004, 2005
Liam Dunne	Oulart–The Ballagh	1	2009, 2010
Vinny Parker	Shelmaliers	2	2014, 2020
Frank Flannery	Oulart–The Ballagh	1	2015, 2016
Tomás Codd	St Martin's	2	2017, 2019
Tony Walsh	Faythe Harriers	1	2001
Teddy O'Connor	Rathnure	1	2006
Kevin Ryan	Oulart–The Ballagh	1	2007
Roy Coleman	St Martin's	1	2008
Brendan O'Connor	Oulart–The Ballagh	1	2011
Pat Herbert	Oulart–The Ballagh	1	2012
Martin Storey	Oulart–The Ballagh	1	2013
Louis Cullen	Naomh Éanna	1	2018
Declan Ruth	Rapparees	1	2021

Teams

By decade

The most successful teams of each decade, judged by number of Wexford Senior Hurling Championship titles, is as follows:

• 1910s: 2 each for Castlebridge (1910–19) and Glenbrien (1915–16)
• 1920s: 2 for Adamstown (1926–27)
• 1930s: 6 for Adamstown (1931-32-33-35-36-37)
• 1940s: 3 for Geraldine O'Hanrahans (1943-44-45)
• 1950s: 7 for St Aidan's Enniscorthy (1952-53-54-56-57-58-59)
• 1960s: 3 for Faythe Harriers (1960-62-65)
• 1970s: 6 for Rathnure (1971-72-73-74-77-79)
• 1980s: 6 for Buffers Alley (1982-83-84-85-88-89)
• 1990s: 3 each for Rathnure (1990-96-98) and Oulart–The Ballagh (1994-95-97)
• 2000s: 4 for Oulart–The Ballagh (2004-05-07-09)
• 2010s: 6 for Oulart–The Ballagh (2010-11-12-13-15-16)

Gaps

Top five longest gaps between successive championship titles:

• 76 years: St Anne's Rathangan (1924–2000)
• 42 years: Cloughbawn (1951–1993)
• 21 years: Geraldine O'Hanrahans (1945–1966)
• 20 years: Faythe Harriers (1981–2001)
• 16 years: Faythe Harriers (1965–1981)

See also

• Wexford Intermediate Hurling Championship (Tier 2)
• Wexford Intermediate A Hurling Championship (Tier 3)
• Wexford Junior Hurling Championship (Tier 4)
• Wexford Junior A Hurling Championship (Tier 5)
• Wexford Junior B Hurling Championship (Tier 6)

References

1. "Pettitt's to continue sponsorship role". Wexford People. 28 May 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
2. "I stepped down because the medical guidelines were not followed". New Ross Standard. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
3. "Wexford SHC final: four-in-a-row for Oulart". Hogan Stand . 15 October 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
4. "Club round-up hurling county finals". RTÉ Sport. 20 October 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
5. "Wexford SHC final: High fives all round for history making Oulart". Hogan Stand . 21 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
6. "St. Anne's denied victory as Shelmaliers strike late". Irish Examiner . 20 October 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
7. "Kelly inspires Shelmaliers". The Irish Examiner . 27 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
8. "Jacob shines as Oulart-The Ballagh land their sixth crown in seven years". Irish Independent . 26 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
9. "Flannery looks to Leinster after Oulart's lucky 13". Irish Independent . 27 October 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
10. "St Martin's upset the formbook in Wexford decider". Irish Examiner . 23 October 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
11. "Dunbar on song as Naomh éanna topple champs". Irish Independent . 22 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.

External links

• Official Wexford Website
• Wexford on Hoganstand
• Wexford Club GAA