1995 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

1995 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Championship details
Dates	30 April - 3 September 1995
Teams	19
All-Ireland champions
Winning team	Clare (2nd win)
Captain	Anthony Daly
Manager	Ger Loughnane
All-Ireland Finalists
Losing team	Offaly
Captain	Johnny Pilkington
Manager	Éamonn Cregan
Provincial champions
Munster	Clare
Leinster	Offaly
Ulster	Down
Connacht	Galway
Championship statistics
No. matches played	19
Top Scorer	Johnny Dooley
Player of the Year	Seánie McMahon
All-Star Team	See here
← 1994 1996 →

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1995 (known for the first time for sponsorship reasons as the Guinness Hurling Championship 1995) was the 109th staging of Ireland's premier hurling knock-out competition. Clare won the championship, beating Offaly 1-13 to 2-8 in the final at Croke Park, Dublin.

Pre-championship

Sponsorship

In 1994 Bank of Ireland became the first ever sponsor of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. Following the success of this deal it was decided that the hurling championship could also benefit from sponsorship. The decision, however, to award the sponsorship deal to Guinness was a controversial one, as there were concerns over the Gaelic Athletic Association's association with an alcoholic drinks company. Former President of the GAA, Dr. Mick Loftus, was one of the most vocal critics of the proposed sponsorship deal. At a meeting of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) Central Council on 6 May, the decision to make Guinness the sponsor was accepted almost unanimously. The sponsorship deal involved Guinness providing £3 million to the GAA over three years. £500,000 of this money would go to funding the championship, while a similar amount would go to the marketing and promotion of the game.

Betting

Prior to the opening of the championship former All-Ireland-winning journalists Seán Moran and Tom Humphries gave their predictions for the upcoming championship in The Irish Times. Kilkenny were regarded as the strongest contenders for All-Ireland glory in 1995. They were the reigning National Hurling League champions and had won back-to-back championship titles from three successive final appearances between 1991 and 1993. Offaly, in spite of being reigning All-Ireland champions, were placed second to Kilkenny in the championship stakes. They faced a more difficult passage through the provincial series, however, an anticipated Leinster final meeting with Kilkenny was the only thing stopping the team from making it two-in-a-row. Following the trauma of their All-Ireland defeat the previous year, Limerick were still regarded as the brightest prospect in Munster. They were given the nod to retain their provincial crown and challenge, once again, for the All-Ireland title.

The championship

Participating counties

Province	County	Stadium	Manager	Most recent success
				All-Ireland	Provincial	NHL	Position in 1994
Leinster	Dublin	Parnell Park	Jimmy Gray	1938	1961	1938-39	Beaten by Wexford in Leinster quarter-final replay
	Carlow	Dr. Cullen Park	Martin Fitzpatrick				Beaten by Meath in Leinster second-round
	Kilkenny	Nowlan Park	Ollie Walsh	1993	1993	1994-95	Beaten by Offaly in Leinster semi-final
	Laois	O'Moore Park	Pat Critchley	1915	1949		Beaten by Laois in Leinster semi-final
	Meath	Páirc Tailteann	John Davis				Beaten by Kilkenny in Leinster quarter-final
	Offaly	O'Connor Park	Éamonn Cregan	1994	1994	1990-91	Beat Limerick in All-Ireland final
	Westmeath	Cusack Park	Georgie Leahy				Beaten by Westmeath in Leinster first round
	Wexford	Wexford Park	Liam Griffin	1968	1977	1972-73	Beaten by Offaly in Leinster final
Munster	Clare	Cusack Park	Ger Loughnane	1914	1932	1977-78	Beaten by Limerick in Munster final
	Cork	Páirc Uí Chaoimh	Johnny Clifford	1990	1992	1992-93	Beaten by Limerick in Munster quarter-final
	Kerry	Austin Stack Park	John Meyler	1891	1891		Beaten by Clare in Munster semi-final
	Limerick	Gaelic Grounds	Tom Ryan	1973	1994	1991-92	Beaten by Offaly in All-Ireland final
	Tipperary	Semple Stadium	Tom Fogarty	1991	1993	1993-94	Beaten by Clare in Munster quarter-final
	Waterford	Walsh Park	Joe Carton	1959	1963	1962-63	Beaten by Limerick in Munster semi-final
Connacht	Galway	Pearse Stadium	Mattie Murphy	1988	1922	1988-89	Beaten by Offaly in All-Ireland semi-final
	Roscommon	Dr. Hyde Park	Michael Kelly		1913		Beaten by Galway in All-Ireland quarter-final
Ulster	Antrim	Casement Park	Dominic McKinley		1994		Beaten by Limerick in All-Ireland semi-final
	Down	Páirc Esler	Seán McGuinness		1992		Beaten by Antrim in Ulster final
Britain	London	Emerald Grounds		1901			Did not take part

Format

Munster Championship

Quarter-final: (2 matches) These are two lone matches between the first four teams drawn from the province of Munster. Two teams are eliminated at this stage, while two teams advance to the next round.

Semi-finals: (2 matches) The winners of the two quarter-finals join the other two Munster teams to make up the semi-final pairings. Two teams are eliminated at this stage, while two teams advance to the next round.

Final: (1 match) The winners of the two semi-finals contest this game. One team is eliminated at this stage, while the winners advance to the All-Ireland semi-final.

Leinster Championship

First Round: (1 match) This is a single match between two 'weaker' teams drawn from the province of Leinster. One team is eliminated at this stage, while the winners advance to the second round.

Second Round: (1 match) The winner of the first round play another 'weaker' team. One team is eliminated at this stage, while the winners advance to the Leinster quarter-final.

Quarter-finals: (2 matches) The winner of the second-round game joins three other Leinster teams to make up the two quarter-final pairings. Two teams are eliminated at this stage, while two teams advance to the Leinster semi-finals.

Semi-finals: (2 matches) The winners of the two quarter-finals join two other Leinster teams to make up the semi-final pairings. Two teams are eliminated at this stage, while two teams advance to the Leinster final.

Final: (1 match) The winner of the two semi-finals contest this game. One team is eliminated at this stage, while the winners advance to the All-Ireland semi-final.

Ulster Championship

Final: (1 match) This is a lone match between the two competing Ulster teams. One team is eliminated at this stage, while the winners advance to the All-Ireland quarter-final.

Connacht Championship

Final: (1 match) This is a lone match between the two competing Connacht teams. One team is eliminated at this stage, while the winners advance to the All-Ireland semi-final where the play the Munster champions.

All-Ireland Championship

Quarter-final: (1 match) This is a lone match between the Ulster champions and the All-Ireland 'B' champions. One team is eliminated at this stage, while the winners advance to the All-Ireland semi-final where they play the Leinster champions.

Semi-finals: (2 matches) The Munster and Leinster champions will play the winners of the lone quarter-final and the Connacht champions. Two teams are eliminated at this stage, while the two winnerss advance to the All-Ireland final.

Final: (1 match) The two semi-final winners will contest the final.

Managerial changes

Pre-championship

Team	1995 Manager	1994 Manager	Reason for leaving	Story/Accomplishments
Clare	Ger Loughnane, double National League-winner with Clare.	Len Gaynor	Resigned	Gaynor guided Clare to back-to-back Munster finals, however, they were defeated on both occasions.

Fixtures

Connacht Senior Hurling Championship

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Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

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Munster Senior Hurling Championship

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Ulster Senior Hurling Championship

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All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

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Championship statistics

Scoring

• First goal of the championship: John Byrne for Carlow against Meath (Leinster first round)
• Last goal of the championship: Éamonn Taaffe for Clare against Offaly (All-Ireland final)
• Hat-trick heroes:
  • First hat-trick of the championship: Seán McLoughlin for Westmeath against Carlow (Leinster first round)
  • Second hat-trick of the championship: Billy Byrne for Wexford against Westmeath (Leinster quarter-final)
  • Third hat-trick of the championship: Eamon Morrissey for Kilkenny against Dublin (Leinster semi-final)
• Widest winning margin: 31 points
  • Wexford 6-23 : 1-7 Westmeath (Leinster quarter-final)
• Most goals in a match: 9
  • Carlow 3-14 : 6-6 Westmeath (Leinster first round)
• Most points in a match: 34
  • Kerry 0-12 : 1-22 Cork (Munster semi-final)
  • Tipperary 4-23 : 1-11 Waterford (Munster semi-final)
• Most goals by one team in a match: 6
  • Westmeath 6-6 : 3-14 Carlow (Leinster first round)
• Most goals scored by a losing team: 3
  • Carlow 3-14 : 6-6 Westmeath (Leinster first round)
  • Cork 3-9 : 2-13 Clare (Munster semi-final)
• Most points scored by a losing team: 14
  • Carlow 3-14 : 6-6 Westmeath (Leinster second round)

Overall

• Most goals scored - Kilkenny (8)
• Most goals conceded - Carlow (7)
• Fewest goals conceded - Tipperary (1)
• Fewest points conceded - Meath (11)
• Fewest goals scored - Meath, Limerick, London (0)
• Fewest points scored - London (9)

Discipline

• First red card of the championship: Johnny Kavanagh for Carlow against Meath (Leinster first round)

Miscellaneous

• Down win the Ulster title for the third time in their history. It is their second provincial title in three years.
• The All-Ireland semi-final meeting of Clare and Galway is their first championship clash since the 1967 championship.
• Clare win the Munster title for the first time since the 1932 championship. They later claim the All-Ireland title for the first time since 1914.
• The meeting of Down and Offaly in the All-Ireland semi-final was their first-ever clash in the history of the championship.
• The meeting of Clare and Offaly in the All-Ireland final was their first-ever clash in the history of the championship.

Top scorers

Season

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Johnny Dooley	Offaly	0-27	27	4	6.75
2	Jamesie O'Connor	Clare	0-19	19	4	4.75
3	Gary Kirby	Limerick	0-18	18	2	9.00
4	Ger O'Loughlin	Clare	3-6	15	4	3.75
	Kevin Coulter	Down	2-9	15	4	3.75
6	Greg O'Kane	Antrim	1-11	14	2	7.00
	Hugh Gilmore	Down	0-14	14	4	3.50
8	Billy Byrne	Wexford	4-1	13	2	6.50
	Denis Byrne	Kilkenny	3-4	13	3	4.33
	Eamon Morrissey	Kilkenny	3-4	13	3	4.33
	Seán McLoughlin	Westmeath	3-4	13	2	6.50

Single game

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	Eamon Morrissey	Kilkenny	3-3	12	Dublin
	Gary Kirby	Limerick	0-12	12	Tipperary
3	Johnny Dooley	Offaly	0-11	11	Down
4	Seán McLoughlin	Westmeath	3-1	10	Carlow
	Pat Fox	Tipperary	2-4	10	Waterford
6	Billy Byrne	Wexford	3-0	9	Westmeath
	Fintan Lalor	Laois	1-6	9	Kilkenny
8	Larry Murphy	Wexford	2-2	8	Westmeath
	Denis Byrne	Kilkenny	2-2	8	Laois
	Johnny Dooley	Offaly	0-8	8	Wexford
	Gary O'Kane	Antrim	1-5	8	Down

Player facts

Debutantes

The following players made their début in the 1995 championship:

Player	Team	Date	Opposition	Game
Alan Browne	Cork	May 20	Kerry	Munster quarter-final
Pat Kenneally	Cork	May 20	Kerry	Munster quarter-final
Fergal McCormack	Cork	May 20	Kerry	Munster quarter-final
Kieran Morrison	Cork	May 20	Kerry	Munster quarter-final
John O'Driscoll	Cork	May 20	Kerry	Munster quarter-final
Darren Ronan	Cork	May 20	Kerry	Munster quarter-final
Peter Smith	Cork	May 20	Kerry	Munster quarter-final
Brendan Cummins	Tipperary	May 21	Waterford	Munster quarter-final
Tom Feeney	Waterford	May 21	Tipperary	Munster quarter-final
Fergal Ryan	Cork	June 4	Clare	Munster semi-final
Ollie Baker	Clare	June 4	Cork	Munster semi-final
Conor Clancy	Clare	June 4	Cork	Munster semi-final
Fergal Hegarty	Clare	June 4	Cork	Munster semi-final
Frank Lohan	Clare	June 4	Cork	Munster semi-final
Stephen McNamara	Clare	June 4	Cork	Munster semi-final
Michael O'Halloran	Clare	June 4	Cork	Munster semi-final
Éamonn Taaffe	Clare	September 3	Offaly	All-Ireland final

Retirees

The following players played their last game in the 1995 championship:

Player	Team	Date	Opposition	Game	Début
Tony O'Sullivan	Cork	May 20	Kerry	Munster quarter-final	1982
John Chaplin	Clare	June 4	Cork	Munster semi-final	1991
Stephen Sheedy	Clare	June 4	Cork	Munster semi-final	1993
P. J. Martin	Offaly	June 22	Wexford	Leinster semi-final	1988
Jim McInerney	Clare	August 6	Galway	All-Ireland semi-final	1985
Cyril Lyons	Clare	September 3	Offaly	All-Ireland final	1983
Alan Neville	Clare	September 3	Offaly	All-Ireland final	1992
Brendan Kelly	Offaly	September 3	Clare	All-Ireland final	1990

External links

• All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1995 Results

Bibliography

• Corry, Eoghan, The GAA Book of Lists (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
• Donegan, Des, The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).
• Sweeney, Éamonn, Munster Hurling Legends (The O'Brien Press, 2002).

See also