1978 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The 1978 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 92nd staging of the All-Ireland hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The championship began on 30 April 1978 and ended on 3 September 1978.

1978 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Championship details
Dates	30 April – 3 September 1978
Teams	15
All-Ireland champions
Winning team	Cork (24th win)
Captain	Charlie McCarthy
Manager	Fr. Bertie Troy
All-Ireland Finalists
Losing team	Kilkenny
Captain	Ger Henderson
Manager	Fr. Tommy Maher
Provincial champions
Munster	Cork
Leinster	Kilkenny
Ulster	Not Played
Connacht	Not Played
Championship statistics
No. matches played	14
Goals total	64 (4.5 per game)
Points total	340 (24.2 per game)
Top Scorer	Liam O'Brien (1-23)
Player of the Year	John Horgan
All-Star Team	See here
← 1977 1979 →

Cork entered the championship as defending champions.^[1]

On 3 September 1978, Cork won the championship following a 1–15 to 2–8 defeat of Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final.^[2] This was their 24th All-Ireland title, their third championship in succession.

Kilkenny's Liam "Chunky" O'Brien was the championship's top scorer with 1-23. Cork's John Horgan was the choice for Hurler of the Year.

Team summaries

Team	Colours	Most recent success
		All-Ireland	Provincial	League
Antrim	Saffron and white		1946
Clare	Saffron and blue	1914	1932	1977-78
Cork	Red and white	1977	1977	1973-74
Dublin	Navy and blue	1938	1961	1938-39
Galway	Maroon and white	1923	1922	1974-75
Kerry	Green and gold	1891	1891
Kildare	White
Kilkenny	Black and amber	1975	1975	1975-76
Laois	Blue and white	1915	1915
Limerick	Green and white	1973	1974	1970-71
Offaly	Green, white and gold
Tipperary	Blue and gold	1971	1971	1967-68
Waterford	Blue and white	1959	1963	1962-63
Westmeath	Maroon and white
Wexford	Purple and gold	1968	1977	1972-73

Provincial championships

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

First round

Laois v Westmeath

30 April 1978 First round	Laois	2-8 - 2-7	Westmeath	O'Connor Park
	F Keenan 0-4, J Mahon 1-0, M Bolger 1-0, M Cuddy 0-3, M Walsh 0-2.		M Ryan 2-1, D McCormack 0-3, J Kilcoyne 0-2, G Whelan 0-1.	Referee: O Moylan (Offaly)

Quarter-final

Laois v Dublin

4 June 1978 Quarter-final	Laois	2-10 - 2-13	Dublin	O'Connor Park
	P Keenan 1-7, M Cuddy 1-0, P Kelly 0-1, L Shaughnessy 0-1, P Dunphy 0-1.		L Hennebry 1-3, D Itbeinlarh 1-0, V Holden 0-4, M Holden 0-4, S Cullen 0-1, J Towell 0-1.	Referee: G Kirwan (Offaly)

Offaly v Kildare

11 June 1978 Quarter-final

Offaly

3-19 – 2-10

Kildare

O'Moore Park

Semi-finals

Dublin v Wexford

18 June 1978 Semi-final	Dublin	4-13 - 5-16	Wexford	Dr. Cullen Park
	J Towell 2-0, V Holden 1-3, M Holden 1-3, L Hennebry 0-4, T Quinn 0-1, P Carton 0-1, D Murphy 0-1.		S Kinsella 3-1, N Buggy 0-8, C Keogh 1-0, M Quigley 1-0, J Quigley 0-2, M Butler 0-2, T Doran 0-1, C Doran 0-1, M Casey 0-1.	Referee: J Murphy (Kilkenny)

Kilkenny v Offaly

25 June 1978 Semi-final	Kilkenny	2-17 – 1-4	Offaly	O'Moore Park
	L O'Brien 0-11, B Cody 1-3, M Malone 1-0, B Fitzpatrick 0-2, M Brennan 0-2.		P Horgan 1-0, K Mooney 0-2, P Delaney 0-1, B Bermingham 0-1.	Referee: J Rankins (Laois)

Final

Kilkenny v Wexford

16 July 1978 Final	Kilkenny	2-16 – 1-16	Wexford	Croke Park
	M Ruth 1-3, B Fitzpatrick 1-2, L O'Brien 0-5, M Brennan 0-4, B Cody 0-1, F Cummins 0-1.		N Buggy 1-7, J Murphy 0-4, M Quigley 0-2, S Kinsella 0-1, D Bernie 0-1, R Kinsella 0-1.	Referee: J Rankins (Laois)

Munster Senior Hurling Championship

Quarter-finals

Waterford v Kerry

4 June 1978 Quarter-final	Waterford	5-13 - 0-11	Kerry	Fraher Field
	M Walsh 0-7, P Kelly 2-0, J Greene 1-2, M Hickey 1-1, J Galvin 1-1, P McGrath 0-1, M Whelan 0-1.		P Moriarty 0-5, C Nolan 0-3, J O'Grady 0-1, J Hourihane 0-1, J McElligott 0-1.	Referee: K Ryan (Tipperary)

Limerick v Tipperary

11 June 1978 Quarter-final	Limerick	1-14 - 0-9	Tipperary	Páirc Uí Chaoimh
	L O'Donoghue 0-5, É Grimes 0-4, W Fitzmaurice 1-0, S Condon 0-2, F Nolan 0-1, S Foley 0-1.		T Butler 0-3, P O'Neill 0-2, S Burke 0-1, P Fanning 0-1, N O'Dwyer 0-1.	Referee: F Murphy (Cork)

Semi-finals

Cork v Waterford

25 June 1978 Semi-final	Cork	3-17 – 2-8	Waterford	Semple Stadium
	J Barry-Murphy 1-3, T Cashman 1-2, R Cummins 1-1, S O'Leary 0-3, J Horgan 0-3, C McCarthy 0-2, G McCarthy 0-2, T Crowley 0-1.		J Greene 1-1, J Galvin 1-0, M Walsh 0-3, D Fitzpatrick 0-2, P Kelly 0-1, J Dalton 0-1.	Referee: J Moloney (Tipperary)

Clare v Limerick

2 July 1978 Semi-final	Clare	4-12 – 3-8	Limerick	Semple Stadium
	C Honan 0-9, P O'Connor 1-1, B Gilligan 1-0, M McKeogh 1-0, S O'Connor 1-0, M Moroney 0-2.		W Fitzmaurice 3-0, É Grimes 0-4, S Foley 0-2, F Nolan 0-1, É Cregan 0-1.	Referee: J Moloney (Tipperary)

Final

Cork v Clare

30 July 1978 Final	Cork	0-13 – 0-11	Clare	Semple Stadium
	C McCarthy 0-5, J Horgan 0-4, R Cummins 0-2, T Cashman 0-1, T Crowley 0-1.		C Honan 0-6, E O'Connor 0-1, G Loughnane 0-1, M Moroney 0-1, J Callinan 0-1, N Casey 0-1.	Referee: J Moloney (Tipperary)

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
	Galway		4-19
	Antrim		3-10			Kilkenny		4-20
						Galway		4-13
											Kilkenny		2-08
											Cork		1-15

All-Ireland quarter-finals

Galway v Antrim

23 July 1978 Quarter-final	Galway	4-19 – 3-10	Antrim	Croke Park
	Joe Connolly 3-1, M Connolly 0-5, F Burke 1-0, F Gantley 0-3, PJ Molloy 0-3, S Silke 0-3, John Connolly 0-2, M Barrett 0-1, I Clarke 0-1.		R McDonnell 3-1, J Fagan 0-4, S Boyle 0-2, J Crossey 0-1, D Donnelly 0-1, P Boyle 0-1.	Referee: C Foley (Dublin)

All-Ireland semi-finals

Galway v Kilkenny

6 August 1978 Semi-final	Galway	4-13 – 4-20	Kilkenny	Croke Park
	PJ Molloy 1-3, N Lane 1-1, F Burke 1-0, John Connolly 1-0, F Gantley 0-3, M Connolly 0-2, I Clarke 0-2, Joe Connolly 0-2.		M Ruth 2-1, L O'Brien 1-3, B Cody 1-2, B Fitzpatrick 0-5, K Fennelly 0-3, M Crotty 0-2, F Cummins 0-2, J Hennessy 0-2.	Attendance: 16,299 Referee: J Moloney (Tipperary)

All-Ireland Final

Cork v Kilkenny

3 September 1978 Final	Cork	1-15 – 2-8	Kilkenny	Croke Park
	C McCarthy 0-7, J Barry-Murphy 1-1, G McCarthy 0-2, T Crowley 0-2, R Cummins 0-1, S O'Leary 0-1, T Cashman 0-1.		B Fitzpatrick 1-1, L O'Brien 0-4, K Fennelly 1-0, M Brennan 0-2, J Hennessy 0-1.	Attendance: 64,155 Referee: J Rankin (Laois)

Top scorers

Overall

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Liam O'Brien	Kilkenny	1-23	26	4	6.50
2	Ned Buggy	Wexford	1-15	18	2	9.00
3	Billy Fitzpatrick	Kilkenny	2-10	16	4	4.0
4	Colm Honan	Clare	0-15	15	2	7.50
5	Charlie McCarthy	Cork	0-14	14	3	4.66
6	Willie Fitzmaurice	Limerick	4-0	12	2	6.00
	Joe Connolly	Galway	3-3	12	2	6.00
8	Seánie Kinsella	Wexford	3-2	11	2	5.50

Single game

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	Liam O'Brien	Kilkenny	0-11	11	Offaly
2	Joe Connolly	Galway	3-1	10	Antrim
	Randall McDonnell	Antrim	3-1	10	Galway
	Seánie Kinsella	Wexford	3-1	10	Dublin
	Ned Buggy	Wexford	1-7	10	Kilkenny
	Frank Keenan	Laois	1-7	10	Dublin
7	Willie Fitzmaurice	Limerick	3-0	9	Clare
	Colm Honan	Clare	0-9	9	Limerick
9	Ned Buggy	Wexford	0-8	8	Dublin
10	Mick Ryan	Westmeath	2-1	7	Laois
	Matt Ruth	Kilkenny	2-1	7	Galway
	Mossie Walsh	Waterford	0-7	7	Kerry
	Charlie McCarthy	Cork	0-7	7	Kilkenny

Championship statistics

Miscellaneous

• Cork retain the All-Ireland title for a third successive season. It is the fourth time in their history that they have achieved this feat and the first time since Cork in 1954 that a team has won three championships in succession.
• Kerry return to the Munster Senior Hurling Championship for the first time since 1958.

Broadcasting

The following matches were broadcast live on television in Ireland on RTÉ.

Round	RTÉ
All-Ireland semi-final	Kilkenny vs Galway
All-Ireland final	Cork vs Kilkenny

Sources

• Corry, Eoghan, The GAA Book of Lists (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
• Donegan, Des, The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).
• Nolan, Pat, Flashbacks: A Half Century of Cork Hurling (The Collins Press, 2000).