Silver to gold: the teams who won All-Irelands as county's jubilee teams watched on

Cork are aiming to reclaim the Liam MacCarthy Cup, 25 years after championship success under Jimmy Barry-Murphy.

Seanie McGrath in full flight for Cork against Kilkenny in the 1999 final, Pic: Sean McGrath INPHO/Tom Honan

Ten years after the first All-Stars, the silver jubilee teams were inaugurated.

GAA historian Seamus O’Doherty’s treasure trove of newspaper cutting reveals the players were initially honoured the day before the All-Ireland finals in an initiative sponsored by the GAA and Irish Nationwide.

“The first recipients are the Wexford players of 1956 and they will be guests of honour at the reception and dinner and occupy a special section in the Hogan Stand at the All-Ireland final on Sunday,” read the “Irish Press” piece on September 4.

“Of all the memorable events in the final of ’56 the most enduring has been the great save by Art Foley from a close range piledriver by Christy Ring, three minutes from the end of the epic game. Wexford were leading by two points and a goal for Cork at that stage could have been the deciding factor.” 

Forty-three years later, two of Ring’s fellow Cloyne men Dónal Óg Cusack and Diarmuid O’Sullivan as well as Seánie McGrath from Ring’s adopted Glen Rovers will be honoured on the Croke Park pitch as part of Cork’s 1999 All-Ireland SHC winning team on Sunday.

Since that Wexford team were feted, 12 victorious hurling sides have been celebrated on the same day their counties were competing in finals. Seven times have the silver jubilees been marked with victory.

Had the noble initiative to commemorate past teams started a few years earlier, Ring and his team-mates of 1952 and ’53 might have been cheered as the modern Cork claimed the Liam MacCarthy Cup in 1977 and ’78.

Bridging a 19-year gap is all Cork will be thinking about on Sunday but in the era of the silver jubilee ceremony they have yet to follow one All-Ireland SHC glory with another 25 years on.

The closest they came was in 2003 when the 1978 victors, led by Charlie McCarthy, were honoured when the Donal O’Grady-managed Cork came back from six points down at half-time having only scored three points to go ahead. However, profligacy cost them in the end.

Can Cork now join Kilkenny and Tipperary as the only counties that can claim to have added gold to silver?

SILVER JUBILEE-CELEBRATING COUNTIES THAT WON ALL-IRELAND SHC FINALS

1991 Tipperary 1-16 Kilkenny 0-15 

2016 Tipperary 2-29 Kilkenny 2-20 

September 4, 2016 was close to a perfect day for Tipperary manager Michael Ryan who along with selectors John Madden and Conor Stakelum were part of the 1991 squad. They weren’t involved in the jubilee presentation but were represented by family members on a day when Tipperary also won the minor final.

1983 Kilkenny 2-14 Cork 2-12 

2008 Kilkenny 3-30 Waterford 1-13 

The Cats marked the 25-year anniversary of their narrow win in style with an emphatic victory over Waterford, who were appearing in their first All-Ireland final in 45 years. 1983 was Cody’s third All-Ireland SHC medal and 2008 was his sixth as manager.

1982 Kilkenny 3-18 Cork 1-13 

2007 Kilkenny 2-19 Limerick 1-15 

The first of two jubilees Cody missed out on as he was taking care of business preparing Kilkenny for the second of what would be their four-in-a-row. Both were comfortable wins and similar enough scorelines. Limerick weren’t blown out of the water like Waterford were but were a distant second.

1975 Kilkenny 2-22 Galway 2-10 

2000 Kilkenny 5-15 Offaly 1-14 

A couple of double-digit All-Ireland successes for Kilkenny, 2000 marked the first in the glorious Cody reign. Henry Shefflin scored 2-2 and DJ Carey 1-4 as Kilkenny followed up their earlier Leinster final success over Offaly with another comprehensive win.

1967 Kilkenny 3-8 Tipperary 2-7 

1992 Kilkenny 3-10 Cork 1-12 

The introduction of Christy Heffernan in the second half of the 1992 decider helped turn the game in the favour of the men in black and amber. Carey, Liam McCarthy and John Power all found the net while Ger Manley scored Cork’s sole goal.

1964 Tipperary 5-13 Kilkenny 2-8 

1989 Tipperary 4-24 Antrim 3-9 

Nicky English’s personal tally of 2-12 in 1991 edged out Eddie Keher’s 2-11 total in going down to Tipp in 1971 as the highest scored by one player in an All-Ireland final. Manager Babs Keating and selectors Donie Nealon, who scored three goals, and Theo English were all on the victorious 1964 side.

1957 Kilkenny 4-10 Waterford 3-12 

1983 Kilkenny 2-14 Cork 2-12 

Just as Cody’s 2008 side crowned the 25-year anniversary of the county’s 1983 triumph so too did the team he featured on as they saw off Cork in the final for the second year running to mark the 1957 ceremony. Seánie O’Leary’s late goal threatened a comeback but Kilkenny prevailed.