New Munster Senior Hurling Championship trophy to be named after Mick Mackey

The Munster Senior Hurling Championship winners currently receive the Munster Cup, which was won by Limerick in the last two years. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

The Munster senior hurling champions will now receive the Mick Mackey Cup after the Munster Council voted to present a new trophy. 

In a quirk of history, neither the senior hurling nor football Munster trophies carry ‘proper’ names, with the winners currently given the Munster Cup.

The hurling trophy was donated to the Munster Council in 1928, with initial plans to name it after Waterford’s Dan Fraher never coming to fruition.

The current trophy, which will now be retired, dates from 1990 when a replacement was commissioned due to old age. 

In 2013, a Limerick GAA proposal to name the cup in honour of Mick Mackey was rejected, amid fears that changing the name would "open up a can of worms".

The old cup will now be stored in the Munster GAA offices in Limerick alongside a number of other cups retired in recent years.

Mick Mackey receives the Liam MacCarthy Cup after Limerick defeated Kilkenny in the 1940 All-Ireland Hurling Final. 

A Munster GAA statement read: "Following a Munster Council meeting, a proposal from Limerick GAA to present a new cup for the Munster Senior Hurling Championship in memory of former Ahane, Limerick, and Munster hurler Mick Mackey was passed."

Mackey is regarded as the first superstar of hurling, being recognised as one of the greatest players of all-time even during his playing days and later being named on the Hurling Team of the Century and Team of the Millennium at centre-forward.

He won three All-Irelands and five Munster titles during his playing career, twice lifting both the Liam MacCarthy and Munster Cups as captain.