The 1981 Cork Senior Hurling Championship was the 93rd staging of the

Cork Senior Hurling Championship The Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Co-Op Superstores Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Cork PSHC) is an annual club hurling competition organised by the Cork County B ...

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 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 ...

was played on 13 September 1981 at

Páirc Uí Chaoimh Páirc Uí Chaoimh ( ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Cork (city), Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the home of Cork GAA. The venue, often referred to simply as The Park, is located in Ballintemple, Cork, Ballintemple and is built near to ...

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 ...

, between St. Finbarr's and

Glen Rovers Glen Rovers is a Cork-based Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Blackpool, Cork, Ireland. The club was founded in 1916 and is primarily concerned with the game of hurling. They were Cork senior hurling champions in 2015 and 2016, havin ...

, 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. 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. The four semi-finalists from the 1980 championship (

Midleton Midleton (; , meaning "monastery at the weir") is a town in south-eastern County Cork, Ireland. It lies approximately 16 km east of Cork City on the Owenacurra River and the N25 road, which connects Cork to the port of Rosslare. A satellit ...

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a Enterprise risk management, risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackR ...

, St. Finbarr's and

) were the four seeded teams and were separated in the quarter-final stage.

Team changes

To Championship

Promoted from the

Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship The Cork Intermediate A Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Co-Op Superstores Cork Intermediate A Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Cork IAHC) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Cork County Board ...

Ballyhea Ballyhea or Ballyhay () is a townland and civil parish in north County Cork, Ireland, on the main N20 Cork–Limerick road, 3.5 km south of Charleville. It lies approximately 110 m above sea level. Area and etymology Ballyhea covers a ...

Results

First round Second round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final

Championship statistics

Top scorers

;Top scorers overall

Miscellaneous

* After two postponements due to inclement weather, the

- 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

. * At a meeting on 30 June 1981, the Cork County Board ordered that the quarter-final between

and

Youghal Youghal ( ; ) is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the estuary of the River Blackwater, the town is a former military and economic centre. Located on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a long and narrow layout. ...

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 Charlie McCarthy is Edgar Bergen's famed ventriloquist dummy partner. Charlie was part of Bergen's act as early as high school, and by 1930, was attired in his famous top hat, tuxedo, and monocle. The character was so well-known that his populari ...

became the first St. Finbarr's player to win six Cork SHC medals.

References

{{Cork Senior Hurling Championship

Cork Senior Hurling Championship