South West Junior A Hurling Championship
The South West Junior A Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the RCM Tarmacadam Carbery Junior A Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Carbery Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1925 for junior hurling teams in the Barony of Carbery in County Cork, Ireland.
| South West Junior A Hurling Championship | |
|---|---|
| Code | Hurling |
| Founded | 1925 |
| Region |  |
| Trophy | Flyer Nyhan Cup |
| No. of teams | 11 |
| Title holders |  |
| First winner |  |
| Most titles |  |
| Sponsors | RCM Tarmacadam |
| Official website | Carbery GAA |
The series of games begin in May, with the championship culminating with the final in September. The championship includes a knock-out stage and a "back door" for teams defeated in the first round.
The South West Junior Championship is an integral part of the wider Cork Junior A Hurling Championship. The winners and runners-up of the South West Championship join their counterparts from the other six divisions to contest the county championship.
As of 2019, 11 clubs currently participate in the South West Championship. The title has been won at least once by 13 different clubs. The all-time record-holders are Clonakilty, who have won a total of 16 titles.
Ballinascarthy are the title-holders after defeating Kilbree by 2-18 to 1-11 in the 2019 championship final.[1]
The championship
Overview
The South West Junior Championship is effectively a knockout tournament with pairings drawn at random — there are no seeds.
Each match is played as a single leg. If a match ends as a draw there is a period of extra time, however, if both sides are still level at the end of extra time a replay takes place and so on until a winner is found.
Participating teams
| Team | Location | Colours |
|---|---|---|
| Ballinascarthy | Ballinascarthy | Red and white |
| Bandon | Bandon | Yellow and white |
| Clonakilty | Clonakilty | Green and red |
| Diarmuid Ó Mathúna's | Castletown-Kinneigh | Blue and gold |
| Dohenys | Dunmanway | Green and white |
| Kilbree | Rossmore | Blue and white |
| Newcestown | Newcestown | Red and yellow |
| St. Colum's | Kealkill | Black and orange |
| St. James's | Ardfield | Green and gold |
| St. Mary's | Enniskean | Green and gold |
| St. Oliver Plunkett's | Ahiohill | Black and white |
Qualification for subsequent competitions
The South West Junior Hurling Championship winners and runners-up qualify for the subsequent Cork Junior A Hurling Championship. Prior to 2017, qualification for the county series was limited to just the championship-winning team.
Trophy
The winning team is presented with the Flyer Nyhan Cup. A native of Clonakilty, John "Flyer" Nyhan (1892-1934) was a member of some excellent Clonakilty teams which contested the county middle grade hurling final in 1912, won the county intermediate football title in 1913 and then won the prestigious South Coast Railway Shields in both football and hurling in 1914.
Roll of honour
| # | Team | Wins | Winning Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clonakilty | 16 | 1939, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1950, 1952, 1961, 1962, 1976, 1977, 1983, 2004, 2012, 2015, 2017 |
| 2 | Courcey Rovers | 15 | 1947, 1948, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1973, 1974 |
| 3 | Bandon | 13 | 1929, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1949, 1960, 1971, 1975, 1990, 1995, 1999, 2009 |
| 4 | Kilbrittain | 12 | 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1978, 1984, 1985 |
| 5 | Newcestown | 9 | 1967, 1969, 1972, 1979, 1980, 1988, 1991, 1992, 2014 |
| 6 | Barryroe | 7 | 1981, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1994, 2006, 2007 |
| 7 | Ballinascarthy | 5 | 1989, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2019 |
| Diarmuid Ó Mathúna's | 5 | 2001, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2010 | |
| 8 | Dohenys | 4 | 1958, 1959, 1963, 2013 |
| 9 | Skibbereen | 3 | 1931, 1932, 1933 |
| Argideen Rangers | 3 | 1993, 1996, 2003 | |
| 10 | Kilbree | 2 | 2016, 2018 |
| 11 | St. Oliver Plunkett's | 1 | 2011 |
List of finals
| Year | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Clonakilty | Diarmuid Ó Mathúna's | |||
| 2016 | Kilbree | 3-07 | St. Colum's | 0-12 | |
| 2017 | Clonakilty | 2-21 | Ballinascarthy | 1-16 | |
| 2018 | Kilbree | 1-18 | Ballinascarthy | 2-12 | |
| 2019 | Ballinascarthy | 2-18 | Kilbree | 1-11 |
Records
By decade
The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of South West Junior Hurling Championship titles, is as follows:
- 1920s: 4 for Kilbrittain (1925-26-27-28)
- 1930s: 4 for Bandon (1934-35-36-37)
- 1940s: 2 for Clonakilty (1943-44-45-46)
- 1950s: 6 for Courcey Rovers (1951-53-54-55-56-57)
- 1960s: 4 for Courcey Rovers (1964-65-66-68)
- 1970s: 3 for Courcey Rovers (1970-73-74)
- 1980s: 3 for Barryroe (1981-82-86-87)
- 1990s: 3 for Bandon (1990-95-99)
- 2000s: 3 for Diarmuid Ó Mathúna's (2001-02-05-08)
- 2010s: 3 for Clonakilty (2012-15-17)
Gaps
Top five longest gaps between successive championship titles:
- 50 years: Dohenys (1963-2013)
- 36 years: Kilbrittain (1942-1978)
- 22 years: Newcestown (1992-2014)
- 21 years: Clonakilty (1983-2004)
- 19 years: Ballinascarthy (2000-2019)
Winners and finalists
The Double
Five teams have won the South West Junior Hurling Championship and the South West Junior Football Championship in a single year as part of a hurling-Gaelic football double. Kilbrittain became the first team to win the double in 1926. Bandon are the record holders having claimed the double on four occasions - 1929, 1960, 1971 and 1975. Dohenys are the only club to have won a back-to-back double - 1958 and 1959. Newcestown (1967) and Clonakilty (1977) complete the list of double-winning teams.
Club sides Argideen Rangers, Ballinascarthy and O'Donovan Rossa also hold the distinction of being dual divisional junior championship-winning teams, however, these were not achieved in a single calendar season.
References
- "Ballinascarthy hurlers lift the Flyer Nyhan Cup for the first time since 2000". Echo Live. Retrieved 2019-09-09.