GAA Interprovincial Championship

The GAA Interprovincial Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the M Donnelly Interpro and formerly referred to as the Railway Cup) was an annual inter-provincial hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and traditionally contested by the four historic provinces of Ireland, deciding the competition winners through a knockout format. Starting in 1927, it was contested until its abolition in 2017. Connacht, Leinster and Munster were the first participating provinces, before being joined by Ulster in 1944 and the Combined Universities in 1972. The final, traditionally held at Croke Park on St. Patrick's Day, was the culmination of a series of knock-out games, with the winning team receiving the Railway Cup. At its peak it was one of the most prestigious competitions in Gaelic games, with players regarding it as a great honour to be included on their provincial team. Crowds of up to 50,000 regularly attended the final, however, interest waned since its heyday with only 562 attending the last final in 2016. The title was won by three different teams, all of whom won the title more than once. The all-time record-holders are Munster, who won the championship on 47 occasions. History After the success of the inter-county All-Ireland Championship, which had been held since 1887, the Gaelic Athletic Association launched an inter-provincial competition in 1905. Sponsored by the Great Southern and Western Railway, the Railway Shield ran until 1908 when the competition ended after Leinster retained the title for a second successive year. After a lapse of nearly 20 years, the idea of an inter-provincial tournament was resurrected. The Railway Cup, once again sponsored by the Great Southern Railways, was first held in 1927, with Ulster being the only province not to field a team. The very first match took place at Portlaoise on 21 November 1926, with Leinster beating Connacht by 7-06 to 3-05. Leinster went on to win the inaugural title after a 1-11 to 2-06 win over Munster in the final. The holding of the final at Croke Park on St. Patrick's Day (17 March) set a precedent that linked the competition to that date for many years to follow. The 1944 Railway Cup was the first occasion when all four provinces took part, with Ulster fielding a team for the first time. They reached the 1945 final, after beating Leinster in the semi-final, but lost out to Munster. In late 1971 an application from the Universities' Council to enter a Combined Universities team was discussed by the Central Council of the Association. The proposal was readily accepted and the Combined Universities team was permitted to participate in the 1972 Railway Cup. Sponsorship Iarnród Éireann became the first title sponsor of the championship, serving in that capacity from 1991 until 1993. After a sponsor-less decade, businessman Martin Donnelly offered financial support in terms of sponsorship in 2002. He withdrew his sponsorship of the competition in 2014. Venues in Dublin hosted every final between 1927 and 1977. in Cork hosted the 1978 final. in Thurles hosted five finals, including the last one in 2016. Early rounds Fixtures in the early rounds of the Railway Cup were usually played at a neutral venue that was deemed halfway between the participating teams. On occasions, Connacht and Ulster received home advantage, hosting semi-finals at Pearse Stadium, Duggan Park, Parkmore Sportsfield, Corrigan Park and Casement Park. The midlands regularly provided venues for Leinster-Connacht and Munster-Connacht matches, with O'Moore Park, O'Connor Park, St. Brendan's Park, St. Cronan's Park and MacDonagh Park being used. Final The final was played at Croke Park in Dublin every year from 1927 until 1977. A decline in popularity, coupled with the All-Ireland Club Championship taking the St. Patrick's Day slot at Croke Park, led to the Railway Cup final being moved around the country for the following 25 years. Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Semple Stadium, Cusack Park, Breffni Park, Nowlan Park and a number of smaller grounds all hosted the final at various stages In 2003, the final was held in the Giulio Onesti Sports Complex in Rome. The success of that overseas trip led GAA chiefs to look into the possibility of making the staging of the final in Europe a regular date in the calendar. The final never returned to Europe, however, the 2005 final took place at the Irish Cultural Centre in Boston, while the 2009 final was held at Ghantoot Racing and Polo Club in Abu Dhabi. The final returned to Croke Park for one final time in 2014, while Semple Stadium hosted the very last Railway Cup final in 2016. Managers Managers in the Railway Cup were involved in the day-to-day running of the team, including the training, team selection, and sourcing of players. The manager was usually assisted by a team of two or three selectors and a backroom team consisting of various coaches. Roll of Honour Records and statistics Final Teams • Most wins: 47: • Munster (1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2016) • Most consecutive wins: 6: • Munster (1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953) • Most appearances in a final: 74: • Munster (1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2016) • Most appearances in a final without ever winning: 4: • Ulster (1945, 1992, 1993, 1995) • Most appearances in a final without losing (streak): 6 • Munster (1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953) • Most consecutive defeats: 5: • Munster (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975) • Most defeats: 37 • Leinster (1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1943, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2005, 2016) Individual • Most wins by a player: 18, Christy Ring (Munster) (1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963) Team By decade The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Railway Cup titles, is as follows: • 1920s: 2 for Munster (1928–29) • 1930s: 7 for Munster (1930-31-34-35-37-38-39) • 1940s: 8 for Munster (1940-42-43-44-45-46-48-49) • 1950s: 8 for Munster (1950-51-52-53-55-57-58-59) • 1960s: 6 for Munster (1960-61-63-66-68-69) • 1970s: 7 for Leinster (1971-72-73-74-75-77-79) • 1980s: 6 for Connacht (1980-82-83-86-87-89) • 1990s: 4 for Munster (1992-95-96-97) • 2000s: 5 for Leinster (2002-03-06-08-09) • 2010s: 2 each for Leinster (2012–14) and Munster (2013–16) Gaps Longest gaps between successive Railway Cup titles: • 33 years: Connacht (1947–1980) • 13 years: Leinster (1941–1954) • 9 years: Leinster (1979–1988) Top scorers All time By year In a single game In finals ==Football==

Managers Managers in the Railway Cup were involved in the day-to-day running of the team, including the training, team selection, and sourcing of players. The manager was usually assisted by a team of two or three selectors and a backroom team consisting of various coaches. Roll of Honour Records and statistics Final Teams • Most wins: 33: • Ulster (1942, 1943, 1947, 1950, 1956, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2024) • Most consecutive wins: 5: • Ulster (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995) Individual • Most wins by a player: 8, Seán O'Neill (Ulster) 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1971 Team By decade The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Railway Cup titles, is as follows: • 1920s: 2 for Leinster (1928–29) • 1930s: 5 for Leinster ( 1930-32-33-35-39) • 1940s: 4 for Munster (1941-46-48-49) • 1950s: 5 for Leinster (1952-53-54-55-59) • 1960s: 6 for Ulster (1960-63-64-65-66-68) • 1970s: 5 for Munster (1972-75-76-77-78) • 1980s: 4 each for Ulster (1980-83-84-89) and Leinster (1985-86-87-88) • 1990s: 6 for Ulster (1991-92-93-94-95-98) • 2000s: 5 for Ulster (2000-03-04-07-09) • 2010s: 3 for Ulster (2012-13-16) Gaps Longest gaps between successive Railway Cup titles: • 45 years: Connacht (1969–2014) • 23 years: Munster (1949–1972) • 17 years: Munster (1982–1999) • 13 years: Connacht (1938–1951) • 12 years: Leinster (1962–1974) ==History==

(left) chasing Ulster's Arron Graffin in the 2008 Railway Cup hurling semi-final Up to and including 1986, the Inter-pros were played in the Spring, with the semi-finals usually in February and the finals on Saint Patrick's Day. From 1987 to 1989 then were given an Autumn slot, moving back to the Spring in 1991 Abu Dhabi joined a list of foreign cities including Boston, Paris and Rome to have hosted finals. Attendances at the matches have fallen. However players seem to love playing in the competition. Former Armagh player Martin McQuillan said it gave players not accustomed to success at county level, a chance to taste victory. The request had been studied by the Executive of the Central Council. The Universities Council estimated that there were about 70 inter-county players in the Sigerson and Fitzgibbon competitions studying at U.C.D, U.C.G., U.C.C., Q.U.B., T.C.D., U.U. Coleraine and St Patrick's Maynooth. At the Central Council meeting held on 23 October 1971, the proposal of Comhairle na nOllscoil was approved unanimously. While the idea was looked upon positively by some elements of the Press as a way of injecting life back into this inter-provincial tournament, and doubted whether the Combined Universities would revive the Railway Cup. Pat McDonnell of UCC and Cork full-back, Texaco Hurler of the Year in 1969, had the honour of captaining the first Combined Universities team to compete in the Railway Cup against Ulster at Croke Park. The University hurlers defeated Ulster in the preliminary round, but were narrowly beaten by Leinster in the semi-final, while the University footballers did not survive the preliminary round of the football Railway Cup. In 1973 the Combined Universities footballers beat Connacht to win the Railway Cup in a final replay at Athlone. This is the only occasion in the history of the Railway Cup that it was not won by a provincial team. The hurlers again beat Ulster but were again beaten by Leinster in the semi-final. In 1974 both the University hurlers and footballers reached the semi-finals, losing to Munster and Leinster, respectively. The Railway Cup experiment was meeting criticism from within the Universities sector because it was interfering with University League fixtures. In May 1974 Comhairle na nOllscoil decided to opt out of the Railway Cup competition. Demise and return The fixtures for the 2017 competition were indefinitely postponed after Connacht pulled out, citing fixture demands on players and lack of spectator interest. The Irish Times reported that the other three provinces had "indicated that they believe the end has come for the 90-year-old competition" and no dates were scheduled for the competition in 2018 and beyond. The competition returned in 2024 after an eight-year hiatus. ==See also==