The Canon O'Brien Cup is an annual

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 ...

match contested by

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

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

. The match, usually played in January at the Mardyke Sports Ground, is often regarded as a pre-season warm-up game for the two participants. Organised by the Cork County Board, admission to the match is free; however, those attending the game are asked to make a donation to volunteer collectors on the day, with all proceeds going to the Irish Alzheimer's Society. The fixture was first played in 2013. The current holders (2020) are University College Cork.

History

The Canon O'Brien Cup was launched in 2013 by GAA President

Liam O'Neill Liam O'Neill is a Gaelic games administrator, who served as the 37th president of the Gaelic Athletic Association. He is from County Laois. Biography A former chairman of the Leinster Council, O'Neill initially sought the GAA presidency at the ...

. The Cup was planned to be an annual challenge match between Cork and University College Cork. Canon Michael O'Brien, who was heavily involved as a coach with both teams, led UCC to eight consecutive

Fitzgibbon Cup The Fitzgibbon Cup ( ga, Corn Mhic Giobúin) is the trophy for the premier hurling championship among higher education institutions (universities, colleges and institutes of technology) in Ireland. The Fitzgibbon Cup competition is administered ...

titles between 1981 and 1988 and led Cork to the 1990

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

title.

Cup

The cup was donated by the O’Brien family and is a replica of the Fitzgibbon Cup. It was presented to Canon O'Brien in 1983 by the UCC hurling squad after he had helped them to win three Fitzgibbon Cup titles in-a-row.

List of finals

Records

Scoring

;All time top scorers ;Top scorers in a single game

Miscellaneous

Daniel Kearney Daniel Kearney (born 19 December 1989) is an Irish hurler who plays for Cork Championship club Sarsfields. He was a member of the Cork senior hurling team for eight seasons, during which time he usually lined out as a right wing-forward. Ea ...

of Cork holds the record for playing in five Canon O'Brien Cup-winning teams. *

Colm Spillane Colm Spillane (born 1 July 1993) is an Irish hurler who plays for Cork Championship club Castlelyons. He played for the Cork senior hurling team at various stages between 2013 and 2021, during which time he usually lined out as a corner-back. ...

won Canon O'Brien Cup titles as a member of both the Cork (2013) and University College Cork (2017) teams.

References

{{Cork GAA Hurling cup competitions in Munster Cork GAA UCC GAA