By Joseph E.A. O’Connell Jr
In 1925 the All-Ireland hurling and football championships were marked by some of the most unusual occurrences in GAA history. Tipperary won the hurling, the 39th in the series, beating Galway 5-6 to 1-5 in the final, but the championships did not get to the final matches without some controversy. Dublin defeated Kilkenny in the Leinster final, but a subsequent objection was upheld and the result was overturned. Kilkenny were then declared champions and represented the province in the All-Ireland series. Antrim were nominated as the Ulster representatives, the last time the Ulster champions progressed to the All-Ireland semi-final until 1943, yet the Ulster championship didn’t take place until after the completion of the All-Ireland series, which Antrim went on to win in any case.
But the controversies in the hurling championship were mere trifles compared to what happened in football. No football final was actually played in 1925! The Connacht final had not been held by the time the semi-finals were played; Mayo were nominated to represent the province. In the semi-finals Mayo beat Wexford and Kerry beat Cavan, but both Kerry and Cavan were disqualified for fielding illegal players. This meant that Mayo were declared champions without the need for a final. Following this, however, Galway defeated Mayo in the Connacht final. Galway were therefore proclaimed All-Ireland champions. Following protests from Galway, Kerry and Mayo, the GAA Central Council organised a substitute competition between the four provincial champions, with Galway as Connacht champions, but Kerry complained that their semi-final victory over Cavan should stand in this new competition. When the GAA insisted that it should not stand, Kerry withdrew, leaving Cavan to automatically proceed to the final. Galway defeated Cavan in the final of that tournament, which was played on 10 January 1926.
The men should have left the organisation and the playing up to the women. Though the women’s football and camogie championships didn’t start until a few years later, they were able to be held without any problems at all. The Camogie Association’s website correctly notes: ‘The senior camogie championship final tends to be less eventful than their counterpart in men’s hurling’. The All-Ireland senior camogie championship is a competition for inter-county teams in the women’s field sport, which can be likened to the men’s sport of hurling but with a handful of minor differences in the rules. For example, in camogie a player can hand-pass a score, something forbidden in hurling. The series is organised by the Camogie Association, founded in 1904. Twenty-eight years later, in 1932, the first All-Ireland championship was played. Originally the prize was the O’Duffy Cup, named after Seán O’Duffy, a member and administrator of the Kilmacud Crokes club in Dublin. An updated cup, modelled on the Ardagh Chalice and valued at €25,000, was presented in September 2007, with Wexford captain Mary Leacy the first player to lift it.
The All-Ireland senior ladies’ football championship is organised by the Ladies’ Gaelic Football Association. The winning team is presented with the Brendan Martin Cup, named after Brendan Martin, a native of Tullamore, Co. Offaly, who organised ladies’ Gaelic football games in the early 1970s and became the first treasurer of the Ladies’ Gaelic Football Association.
Joseph E.A. Connell Jr is the author of The Terror War: the uncomfortable truths of the War of Independence (Eastwood Books, 2022).