The 1887 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the first staging of the All-Ireland

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

championship. The championship began on 2 July 1887 and ended on 1 April 1888.

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

won the title following a 1-1 to 0-0 defeat of

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

Background

The

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

(GAA), the governing body of

Gaelic games Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichí Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the ...

in Ireland, had been formed in 1884, but for the first three years of its existence, its member clubs played only friendly matches and locally organised tournaments. In 1887, however, the existing county boards started to organise knock-out championships for the club teams within their own county. The county club championships were then extended to a national or All-Ireland inter-county series of games.

Teams

All of the existing county boards were eligible to enter a team, however, only six chose to do so. Disputes in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

and

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

over which club should represent the county resulted in neither county fielding a team. In all five teams participated: Clare (Garraunboy Smith O'Briens),

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

(Metropolitans)

( Meelick),

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

(

Tullaroan Tullaroan () is a village in the western part of County Kilkenny in the Slieveardagh Hills near the County Tipperary, Tipperary border. Tullaroan is also the name of the local civil parish. Sport Tullaroan GAA are the most successful Gaelic Ath ...

)

(

Thurles Thurles (; ''Durlas Éile'') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of the same name in the barony of Eliogarty and in the ecclesiastical parish of Thurles (Roman Catholic parish), Thurles. The cathedral ch ...

) and

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

(Castlebridge). All of the original entrants subsequently went on the claim the All-Ireland title, while all of the participating clubs still exist in some form.

Format

For the only time in its history there were no provincial championships and an open draw was used to determine the pairings in the All-Ireland championship. All-Ireland Championship ''First round:'' (1 match) This is a lone match between the first two teams paired together. One team is eliminated at this stage while the winning team advances to the second round. ''Second round:'' (1 match) This is a lone match between the winner of the first round and another team. One team is eliminated at this stage while the winning team advances to the semi-finals. ''Semi-final:'' (2 matches) The winners of the second round game join the three remaining teams to make up the semi-final pairings. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the two winning teams advance to the final. ''Final:'' (1 match) The winners of the two semi-finals contest this game. The winners are declared All-Ireland champions.

Scoring

A unique scoring system was used in the first championship. One goal was worth more than any number of points, while "forfeit points" (5 forfeit points = 1 point) were awarded in place of 65's. Scores here are given in the form goals-points-forfeit points, e.g. 2-4-1. So (for example), 2-0-0 defeats 1-7-2 (goal outvalues any number of points); 1-3-4 defeats 1-2-7 (3.8 points vs. 3.4 points); 3-0-6 defeats 3-1-0 (six forfeit points outvalue one point). Similarly, the playing pitch was significantly larger than the modern day pitch, particularly in width, and teams had twenty-one players. The scoring area was exactly similar to the scoring area used in the

International rules International rules football ( ga, Peil na rialacha idirnáisiunta; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed ...

football games.

Fixtures

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurling competition i ...

Championship statistics

Miscellaneous

receive a walkover in their opening game against

. The Dublin champions, Metropolitans, sought a postponement of the game from the GAA's Executive because some of their players were on holidays. The request was refused.

Sources

* Corry, Eoghan, ''The GAA Book of Lists'' (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005). * Donegan, Des, ''The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games'' (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).

External links

1887 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship results

References

{{Hurling All-Irelands

1887 Events January–March * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Har ...