All-Ireland Poc Fada Championship

The All-Ireland Poc Fada Hurling & Camogie Championships is an annual tournament testing the skills of Ireland's best hurlers and camogie players. Poc Fada is Irish for "long puck". The championships are sponsored by Martin Donnelly (who has been a sponsor since 1996).

The All Ireland Poc Fada Finals have taken place on the Saturday of the Irish August Public Holiday each year since 2005. In 2018 the All Ireland Hurling Championship was restructured, with the 2019 Finals taking place on Saturday 3 August.^[1]

The Senior Hurling Final starts at An Fhána Mór, Annaverna, County Louth. Competitors must puck (hit) a sliotar with a hurley to the top of Annaverna Mountain (An Céide), and onwards to Carn an Mhadaidh. After a short break they continue down to An Gabhlán, before finishing back at the start of the course. The whole course measures 5 kilometres (3.1 mi).

Tournaments

Seniors Final: Corn Setanta (The Setanta Cup)

The 12 competitors competing in this category qualify as the four provincial champions and runners-up, the current champion, the 2013 "All Star" goalkeeper and 2 invitationals. In the past competitors have come from USA, Europe and South Africa.

"Corn Setanta ("the sliotar cup)" is awarded to the player who takes the lowest number of pucks. Ties are broken by the distance by which the player's last puck crosses the finish line.

Comórtas Beirte (Pairs) – Corn Cuailgne (The Cooley Cup) and Corn Na Craoibhe Rua (The Red Branch Cup)

Shared between the pairing drawn prior to the competition as the pair returning the fewest combined pucks for the course. Record holders still to be clarified! This competition has now been discontinued.

Camogie Final – (The Camogie Poc Fada Cup)

There are seven competitors in the Ladies event, although if there is an invitational place/wildcard on offer there may be 8. Presently the current champion, the 4 provincial qualifiers, a qualifier from Co. Louth and a qualifier from Co. Armagh, the latter 2 counties being the hosts. In the past, the invitational/wildcard has gone to the London Cumann.

The U16 Boys Final – Corn Sheáin Óg Mhic Sheáin (The Young John McShane Cup)

There are currently only 4 participants in this event, 1 from each of the 4 provincial qualifiers. If the situation occurs where the winner of the All Ireland final is eligible to compete at the same age group the following year he will be asked to return and defend his All Ireland title. To date this has happened twice when the 2011 Under 16 champion (Cillian Kiely of Offaly) successfully retained the All Ireland title in 2012. This feat was repeated by his brother Cathal, the 2016 champion, who also retained his title in 2017.

History

The tournament was founded in 1960 by Fr. Pól Mac Sheáin and the Naomh Moninne club based in Fatima, Dundalk, Louth, with the first All Ireland event taking place in 1961, Limerick man Vincent Godfrey was the first winner, out of 16 hurlers invited. The competition went off the calendar after 1969 before returning in 1981 with 12 competitors.

The concept of the competition originates in the Irish legend of "Táin Bó Cuailgne" when Cúchulainn, who as the boy Setanta set out from his home at Dún Dealgan to the King's court at Emain Macha hitting his sliotar before him and running ahead to catch it as he travelled over the Cooley Mountains.

In 2001 the Poc Fada was held at Dundalk Stadium (Dundalk Racecourse) due to foot-and-mouth disease on the Cooley Peninsula, doing two laps of the circuit (2 miles 880 yards / 4,023 metres). The 2005 tournament was won by Albert Shanahan of Limerick, with international soccer player Niall Quinn (who played for Dublin in the All-Ireland minor final of 1983) also competing.

Almost all of the winners have been from the traditional hurling counties, but Dinny Donnelly (Meath), Gerry Goodwin (Tyrone), Colin Byrne (Wicklow), Paul Dunne (Louth), Mary Henry (Westmeath), 2009 champion Gerry Fallon (Roscommon) and the 2010 champion Graham Clarke (Down) have been the exceptions. The record currently stands at 48 pucks (an average of 104 metres per puck), achieved by Brendan Cummins (Tipperary) in 2004. The current record for the Camogie course is held by Patricia Jackman of Waterford when in 2013 she completed the course in 27 pocs and 7 metres (over the end line). Traditionally the most successful competitors have generally been goalkeepers, owing to the need for goalkeepers to puck the ball far up the field in a game of hurling but increasingly there are more "outfield" Hurlers and Camogs out qualifying their goalkeeping contemporaries at county and provincial final level.

Poc Fada Hall of Fame

Name	County	Number of Wins	Years
Brendan Cummins	Tipperary	9	2004, 2006–08, 2011–15
Ger Cunningham	Cork	7	1984–90
Patricia Jackman	Waterford	7	2009–15
Cillian Kiely	Offaly	4	Under 16 2011-12. Senior 2018-19
Molly Lynch	Cork	4	Under 16 2017. Senior 2021-23

Roll of Honour

Poc Fada Seniors

Year	Winner	County	Number of pucks
1961	Vincent Godfrey	Limerick	52
1962	Ollie Walsh	Kilkenny	67
1963	Ollie Walsh Tom Geary Dinny Donnelly	Kilkenny Waterford Meath	70
1964	Oliver Gough	Kilkenny
1965	Denis Murphy	Cork
1966	Finbar O'Neill	Cork
1967	Finbar O'Neill	Cork
1968	Finbar O'Neill	Cork
1969	Liam Tobin	Waterford
1970–80	Eleven-year hiatus
1981	Pat Hartigan	Limerick
1982	Gerry Goodwin	Tyrone
1983	Pat Hartigan	Limerick
1984	Ger Cunningham	Cork
1985	Ger Cunningham	Cork
1986	Ger Cunningham	Cork
1987	Ger Cunningham	Cork
1988	Ger Cunningham	Cork
1989	Ger Cunningham	Cork
1990	Ger Cunningham	Cork
1991	Tommy Quaid	Limerick
1992	Albert Kelly	Offaly
1993	Albert Kelly	Offaly
1994	Michael Shaughnessy	Galway
1995	Michael Shaughnessy	Galway
1996	Michael Shaughnessy	Galway
1997	Colin Byrne	Wicklow
1998	Albert Kelly	Offaly
1999	Davy Fitzgerald	Clare
2000	Colin Byrne	Wicklow	50
2001	Albert Shanahan	Limerick	49 §
2002	Davy Fitzgerald	Clare	52
2003	Paul Dunne	Louth	54
2004	Brendan Cummins	Tipperary	48
2005	Albert Shanahan	Limerick	58
2006	Brendan Cummins	Tipperary	52
2007	Brendan Cummins	Tipperary	49
2008	Brendan Cummins	Tipperary	49
2009	Gerry Fallon	Roscommon	60 (strong wind)
2010	Graham Clarke	Down	51
2011	Brendan Cummins	Tipperary	50
2012	Brendan Cummins	Tipperary	39 §
2013	Brendan Cummins	Tipperary	51
2014	Brendan Cummins	Tipperary	54
2015	Brendan Cummins	Tipperary	57
2016	James McInerney	Clare	50
2017	Tadhg Haran	Galway	51
2018	Cillian Kiely	Offaly	48
2019	Cillian Kiely	Offaly	49
2020	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Colin Ryan	Limerick	21 §
2022	Killian Phelan	Kilkenny	49
2023	Fionan Mackessy	Kerry	48

§ short course 2001 – took place at the Dundalk Racecourse (two and a half-mile) due to foot-and-mouth disease. § Less mountainous course 2012 – The Senior Men's competition was played over the "Lower" course due to the prevailing weather conditions on Finals' Day. They started at the 2.14 km (1.33 mi) course start line pucking to "An Gábhlan" and back to the start line where they turned and repeated the course for a second time. The course distance was 4.24 km (2.63 mi). § short course 2021 – the women's/juvenile course was used due to heavy fog on the mountains.^[2]

Camogie Poc Fada since 2004

Uses a shorter course of just 2 stages from "An Fhana Mór" to "An Gabhlan" and back, a distance of 2.14 km (1.33 miles). The current record for the Camogie course is held by Patricia Jackman of Waterford when in 2013 she completed the course in 27 pocs and 7 metres (over the end line). Lyndsey Condell of Carlow's record stood from 2008 until 2013 when she completed the course in 28 pocs and 67 metres (over the end line) – Scoresheet not available online but has been verified. Catriona Daly (Galway) finishing 2nd to Patricia in 2013 with 28 pocs and 17.5m is in third place. Mary Henry of Westmeath in fourth place with 28 pocs and 4 metres (over the end line) in 2006.

Year	Winner	County	Number of pucks
2004	Stephanie Gannon	Galway	32
2005	Denise Lynch	Clare	30
2006	Mary Henry	Westmeath	28
2007	Lyndsey Condell	Carlow	30
2008	Lyndsey Condell	Carlow	28
2009	Patricia Jackman	Waterford	29
2010	Patricia Jackman	Waterford	28
2011	Patricia Jackman	Waterford	28
2012	Patricia Jackman	Waterford	29
2013	Patricia Jackman	Waterford	27
2014	Patricia Jackman	Waterford	29
2015	Patricia Jackman	Waterford	27
2016	Aoife Murray	Cork	27
2017	Susan Earner	Galway	26
2018	Susan Earner	Galway	24
2019	Catriona Daly	Galway	24
2020	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Molly Lynch	Cork	28
2022	Molly Lynch	Cork
2023	Molly Lynch	Cork	24

Boys (Under 16)

Uses the same course as the Camogie finalists.

Year	Winner	County	Number of pucks
2007	Aaron Murphy	Limerick	24
2008	Eamon Murphy	Waterford	26
2009	Noel Fallon	Roscommon	25
2010	Owen Treacy	Galway	25
2011	Cillian Kiely	Offaly	24
2012	Cillian Kiely	Offaly	22
2013	Jack Coyne	Galway	25
2014	Donal McKernan	Antrim	26
2015	Shaun Murray	Waterford	25
2016	Cathal Kiely	Offaly	22
2017	Cathal Kiely	Offaly	22
2018	Kyle Shelly	Tipperary	22
2019	Patrick Burke	Galway	24
2020	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022	Darragh Smith	Westmeath	24
2023	Sean Kelly	Galway	24

Girls U16 Camogie Poc Fada since 2015

Uses the same course as the Camogie finalists.

Year	Winner	County	Number of pucks
2015	Sarah Healy	Galway	32
2016	Sarah Healy	Galway	28
2017	Molly Lynch	Cork	31
2018	Maeve Muldoon	Galway	27
2019	Katie Gilchrist	Galway	27
2020	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022	Lucy Lynch	Cork	28
2023	Tiarná Kelly	Derry	29

References

1. "Offaly brothers finish first and second in All Ireland Poc Fada Final". offalyexpress.ie. 3 August 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
2. "Colin Ryan crowned M Donnelly GAA All-Ireland Poc Fada champion". gaa.ie.

• An Poc Fada.net – The Poc Fada portal for News, History, Pictures and Results
• The Poc Fada on gaa.ie
• GAA Poc Fada

External links

• The Poc Fada on gaa.ie
• GAA Poc Fada on Facebook
• GAA Poc Fada on Twitter
• MD My Club Shop GAA Poc Fada Official Sponsor
• An Poc Fada.net – The Poc Fada portal for News, History, Pictures and Results