1953 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The 1953 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 67th staging of the All-Ireland hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The championship began on 3 May 1953 and ended on 7 September 1953.

1953 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Championship details
Dates	3 May - 7 September 1953
Teams	13
All-Ireland champions
Winning team	Cork (18th win)
Captain	Christy Ring
All-Ireland Finalists
Losing team	Galway
Captain	Mickey Burke
Provincial champions
Munster	Cork
Leinster	Kilkenny
Ulster	Not Played
Connacht	Not Played
Championship statistics
No. matches played	13
Goals total	75 (5.7 per game)
Points total	201 (15.4 per game)
Top Scorer	Jimmy Smyth (7-5) Jim Langton (1-23)
All-Star Team	See here
← 1952 1954 →

Cork were the defending champions, and retained their All-Ireland crown following a 3-3 to 0-8 defeat of Galway in the final.

Teams

Team summaries

Team	Colours	Most recent success
		All-Ireland	Provincial	League
Clare	Saffron and blue	1914	1932	1945-46
Cork	Red and white	1952	1952	1952-53
Dublin	Navy and blue	1938	1952	1938-39
Galway	Maroon and white	1923	1922	1950-51
Kilkenny	Black and amber	1947	1950	1932-33
Laois	Blue and white	1915	1949
Limerick	Green and white	1940	1940	1946-47
Meath	Green and gold
Offaly	Green, white and gold
Tipperary	Blue and gold	1951	1951	1951-52
Waterford	Blue and white	1948	1948
Westmeath	Maroon and white
Wexford	Purple and gold	1910	1951

Provincial championships

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

First round

Westmeath v Meath

3 May 1953 First round	Westmeath	2-04 - 3-13	Meath	Cusack Park, Mullingar
	J McGrath 1-2, D Callaghan 1-0, F Farrell 0-1, T Daly 0-1.		B Smyth 0-7, W Rispin 1-1, R Weldon 1-0, T Kelly 1-0, J Dempsey 0-2, T Walsh 0-1, M Regan 0-1, A Foran 0-1.

Second round

Offaly v Laois

3 May 1953 Second round	Offaly	2-04 – 5-15	Laois	St. Brendan's Park, Birr
	J Spain 1-2, T Dooley 1-0, W Mitchell 0-1, T Mitchell 0-1.		H Grey 1-5, P Lalor 2-0, T Maher 1-2, P Kelly 1-1, J Styles 0-4, D Murray 0-2, L Harding 0-1.

Kilkenny v Meath

17 May 1953 Second round	Kilkenny	3-09 – 3-01	Meath	O'Connor Park, Tullamore
	P Johnston 1-3, D Carroll 0-5, T Ryan 1-0, D Kennedy 1-0, J Langton 0-1.		W Rispin 2-0, R Weldon 1-0, B Smyth 0-1.	Referee: P Connell (Offaly)

Semi-finals

Wexford v Laois

14 June 1953 Semi-final	Wexford	4-13 – 3-05	Laois	Nowlan Park, Kilkenny
	T Flood 2-6, Padge Kehoe 0-4, N Rackard 1-0, Cummins 1-0, M Flood 0-1, S Flood 0-1, Paddy Kehoe 0-1.		H Grey 2-2, J Styles 0-2, P Lalor 1-0, P Kelly 0-1.	Referee: P Connell (Offaly)

Dublin v Kilkenny

21 June 1953 Semi-final	Dublin	4-08 – 3-11	Kilkenny	Croke Park, Dublin
	J Prior 2-2, K Heffernan 2-0, N Allen 0-3, L Donnelly 0-1, G Kelly 0-1, S Óg Ó Ceallacháin 0-1.		J Langton 1-6, S Downey 1-3, D Kennedy 0-1, S Clohessy 0-1.	Attendance: 14,829 Referee: P Connell (Offaly)

Kilkenny v Dublin

5 July 1953 Semi-final replay	Kilkenny	2-13 – 1-05	Dublin	Nowlan Park, Kilkenny
	J Langton 0-6, S Downey 1-1, D Carroll 0-4, P Buggy 1-0, D Kennedy 0-2.		K Heffernan 1-0, N Allen 0-3, C Murphy 0-1, L Healy 0-1.	Attendance: 22,239 Referee: A Donnelly (Meath)

Final

Kilkenny v Wexford

19 July 1953 Final	Kilkenny	1-13 – 3-05	Wexford	Croke Park, Dublin
	J Langton 0-6, D Kennedy 0-2, M Kelly 1-1, J Sutton 0-2, S Downey 0-1, S Clohessy 0-1.		N Rackard 2-3, Padge Kehoe 1-0, T Flood 0-2.	Attendance: 37,533 Referee: P Connell (Offaly)

Munster Senior Hurling Championship

First round

Clare v Limerick

14 June 1953 First round	Clare	10-08 – 1-01	Limerick	Cusack Park, Ennis
	J Smyth 6-4, P Greene 2-0, J Purcell 1-0, M Considine 1-0, M Nugent 0-3, J Meaney 0-1,		D Kelly 1-0, T McNamara 0-1.	Referee: S Vaughan (Waterford)

Semi-finals

Tipperary v Waterford

21 June 1953 Semi-final	Tipperary	6-03 – 2-10	Waterford	Cork Athletic Grounds, Cork
	P Maher 2-0, P Kenny 1-3, N Ryan 1-0, PJ O'Brien 1-0, S Bannon 1-0, P Shanahan 0-1.		J Kiely 1-7, J Fives 1-1, P Grimes 0-1, W Doocey 0-1.

Cork v Clare

28 June 1953 Semi-final	Cork	2-11 – 4-02	Clare	Gaelic Grounds, Limerick
	J Hartnett 2-1, C Ring 0-5, WJ Daly 0-2, P Barry 0-1, M Fouhy 0-1, L Dowling 0-1.		P Greene 3-1, J Smith 1-1.	Referee: S Vaughan (Waterford)

Final

Cork v Tipperary

26 July 1953 Final	Cork	3-10 – 1-11	Tipperary	Gaelic Grounds, Limerick
	C Ring 1-8, J Hartnett 1-1, L Dowling 1-0, G Murphy 0-1.		Shanahan 0-8, Stakelum 1-1, S Bannon 0-2.	Attendance: 46,265 Referee: W O'Donoghue (Limerick)

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

All-Ireland semi-finals

Galway v Kilkenny

16 August 1953 Semi-final	Galway	3-05 – 1-10	Kilkenny	Croke Park, Dublin
	J Killeen 2-0, J Gallagher 1-3, J Molloy 0-1, H Gordon 0-1.		S Downey 1-2, J Langton 0-4, J Sutton 0-2, P Buggy 0-1, D Kennedy 0-1.	Attendance: 38,690 Referee: R Stakelum (Tipperary)

All-Ireland final

Cork v Galway

7 September 1953 Final	Cork	3-03 – 0-08	Galway	Croke Park, Dublin
	C Ring 1-1, J Hartnett 1-0, T O'Sullivan 1-0, P Barry 0-1, WJ Daly 0-1.		B Duffy 0-2, J Molloy 0-2, J Duggan 0-1, J Gallagher 0-1, H Gordon 0-1, J Killeen 0-1.	Attendance: 71,195 Referee: P Connell (Offaly)

Main article: 1953 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final

Championship statistics

Top scorers

Top scorers overall

Rank	Player	Club	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Jimmy Smyth	Clare	7-05	26	2	13.00
	Jim Langton	Kilkenny	1-23	26	5	5.20
2	Christy Ring	Cork	2-14	20	3	6.66
3	Patrick Greene	Clare	5-01	16	2	8.00
	Harry Gray	Laois	3-07	16	2	8.00
	Shem Downey	Kilkenny	3-07	16	5	3.20
4	Josie Hartnett	Cork	4-02	14	3	4.66
	Tim Flood	Wexford	2-08	14	2	7.00
5	Nicky Rackard	Wexford	3-03	12	2	6.00
6	Willie Rispin	Meath	3-01	10	2	5.00
	John Kiely	Waterford	1-07	10	1	10.00

Top scorers in a single game

Rank	Player	Club	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	Jimmy Smyth	Clare	6-04	22	Limerick
2	Tim Flood	Wexford	2-06	12	Laois
3	Christy Ring	Cork	1-08	11	Tipperary
4	Patrick Greene	Clare	3-01	10	Cork
	John Kiely	Waterford	1-07	10	Tipperary
5	Nicky Rackard	Wexford	2-03	9	Kilkenny
	Jim Langton	Kilkenny	1-06	9	Dublin
6	Harry Gray	Laois	2-02	8	Wexford
	Jim Prior	Dublin	2-02	8	Kilkenny
	Harry Gray	Laois	1-05	8	Offaly

Scoring

• Widest winning margin: 34 points
  • Clare 10-8 - 1-1 Limerick (Munster quarter-final, 14 June 1953)
• Most goals in a match: 11
  • Clare 10-8 - 1-1 Limerick (Munster quarter-final, 14 June 1953)
• Most points in a match: 21
  • Cork 3-10 - 1-11 Tipperary (Munster final, 26 July 1953)
• Most goals by one team in a match: 10
  • Clare 10-8 - 1-1 Limerick (Munster quarter-final, 14 June 1953)
• Most goals scored by a losing team: 4
  • Clare 4-2 - 2-11 Cork (Munster semi-final, 28 June 1953)
• Most points scored by a losing team: 11
  • Tipperary 1-11 - 3-10 Cork (Munster final, 26 July 1953)

Miscellaneous

• Clare's 10-8 to 1-1 defeat of Limerick in the Munster quarter-final was a record-breaking game. It was Clare's first championship defeat of their near rivals since 1914. The 34-point winning margin remains a record between these two teams. Jimmy Smyth of Clare scored a Munster championship record of 6-4 against Limerick.^[1]

Sources

• Corry, Eoghan, The GAA Book of Lists (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
• Donegan, Des, The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).
• Horgan, Tim, Christy Ring: Hurling's Greatest (The Collins Press, 2007).
• Nolan, Pat, Flashbacks: A Half Century of Cork Hurling (The Collins Press, 2000).
• Sweeney, Éamonn, Munster Hurling Legends (The O'Brien Press, 2002).

External links

• 1953 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship results

References

1. O'Connell, Jerome (25 July 2007). "Recalling Jimmy Smyth's 6-4 in 1953". Limerick Leader. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.