Christy O'Connor: Walsh Park being a Cork hurling burial ground is a myth

When Waterford beat Cork at Walsh Park in the 2024 Munster SHC, it reignited the old perception that the Rebels have a poor record at the Waterford City venue

Prior to 2022, the last time Cork had played Waterford in a senior championship match in Walsh Park was in 1975. Pic: ©INPHO/Ken Sutton

When Anthony Daly was walking out of Cusack Park last Sunday, a supporter approached him with some instruction and advice. ‘Will you tell (Mark) Landers,’ the man said to Daly ‘to stop calling Walsh Park a graveyard for Cork teams.’ Daly mentioned the term to Landers again on the Irish Examiner podcast on Monday. It has been in his head since his days as a Cork minor when, according to Landers, Denis Coughlan told the 1990 minor squad that Walsh Park was a graveyard for Cork teams. Landers was part of the Cork minor team that reached that year’s All-Ireland final and, while Cork first announced their credentials that season when scoring 6-14 against Waterford in Walsh Park, they conceded a bag of goals to make it a jittery experience.

When Cork lost the 1992 Munster U21 semi-final to Waterford by two points in Walsh Park, it surely convinced Landers that all he’d heard must have been true – that Walsh Park effectively was a burial ground for Cork hurling teams.