Ring’s 1944 goal opened door to four-in-a-row

Christy Ring made his championship debut for the Cork senior hurlers in 1940. They were dark days for the county.

In Munster, Limerick, spearheaded by the swashbuckling Mick Mackay, had their number. They beat them in a replay in that year’s Munster final, and went on to pocket their third All-Ireland title in six years. Cork hadn’t won an All-Ireland since 1931, a bewildering state of affairs for the county’s faithful. Kilkenny, over the same period, had bagged four.

All changed in 1941. Due to an outbreak of Foot and Mouth, the All-Ireland series had to be dismantled. With Tipperary and Kilkenny ravaged in particular by the disease, Cork and Dublin were sent forward to contest the deferred hurling final, which was held on 28 September, three weeks after the football final.