Canon O'Brien Cup

Canon O'Brien Cup
Irish	Corn Uí Bhriain
Code	Hurling
Founded	2013
Region	Cork (GAA)
Trophy	Canon O'Brien Cup
Title holders	Cork (4th title)
First winner	Cork
Most titles	Cork (4 titles)

The Canon O'Brien Cup is an annual hurling match contested between Cork and University College Cork. The match, usually played in January at the Mardyke, is often regarded as a pre-season warm-up game for the two participants.

Organised by the Cork County Board, admission to the match is free, however, those attending the game are asked to make a donation to volunteer collectors on the day, with all proceeds going to the Irish Alzheimer’s Society. The fixture was first played in 2013.

The current holders are Cork who defeated University College Cork by 2-12 to 0-13 in the 2015 match.

History

The Canon O'Brien Cup was launched in 2013 by GAA President Liam O'Neill. The Cup was planned to be an annual challenge match between Cork and University College Cork. Canon Michael O'Brien, who was heavily involved as a coach with both teams, led UCC to eight consecutive Fitzgibbon Cup titles between 1981 and 1988 and led Cork to the 1990 All-Ireland title.^[1]

Cup

The cup was donated by the O’Brien family and is a replica of the Fitzgibbon Cup. It was presented to Canon O'Brien in 1983 by the UCC hurling squad after he had helped them to win three Fitzgibbon Cup titles in-a-row.^[2]

List of finals

Year	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Score	Venue	Winning Captain	Winning Team
2013	Cork	3-20	University College Cork	1-16	The Mardyke	Pa Cronin	A Nash; S O'Neill, C Spillane, S McDonnell; T Kenny, C Joyce, S White; D Kearney, P Cronin; B Corry, C McCarthy, S Moylan; P Horgan, M Cussen, P O'Sullivan. Subs: R O'Shea, M O'Sullivan.	[3]
2014	Cork	2-19	University College Cork	1-14	The Mardyke	Anthony Nash	A Nash; C Joyce, S O’Neill, K Murphy; E Keane, M Ellis, W Egan; P Haughney, L McLoughlin; B Lawton, C McCarthy, M O’Sullivan; S Moylan, P Horgan, J Coughlan. Subs: L O’Farrell, D Kearney, S White, A Ryan, S O’Farrell.	[4]
2015	Cork	1-26	University College Cork	2-12	The Mardyke	Anthony Nash	A Nash; C Joyce, C Barry, W Kearney; A Walsh, L McLoughlin, C Murphy; D Kearney, P Cronin; S Harnedy, B Cooper, B Lawton; D McCarthy, P O’Sullivan, P Horgan. Subs: C McCarthy, S Moylan, W Kearney, L O’Farrell, P Haughney.	[5]
2016	Cork	2-12	University College Cork	0-13	The Mardyke	Shane O'Neill	A Nash; C O’Sullivan, P O’Mahony, A Dennehy; S O’Neill, W Egan, N Cashman; P Haughney, D Kearney; P O’Sullivan, W Leahy, S Moylan; L Meade, P Cronin, D Lee. Subs: D Browne, D Fitzgibbon, M Coleman, C Buckley.	[6]

Top scorers

All time

Rank	Player	Team	Scores	Tally	Games	Era	Average
1	Patrick Horgan	Cork	3-23	32	3	2013-	10.66
2	Willie Griffin	U.C.C.	2-15	21	2	2013-2014	10.50
3	Paudie O'Sullivan	Cork	3-7	16	3	2013-	5.33

Finals

Season	Top scorer	Team	Score	Total
2013	Patrick Horgan	Cork	2-8	16
2014	Patrick Horgan	Cork	1-9	12
2015	Anthony Spillane	U.C.C.	1-4	7
2016	Paudie O'Sullivan	Cork	1-4	7
	Rob O'Shea	U.C.C.	0-7	7

References

1. Hurley, Denis (17 January 2013). "Students honour Canon O’Brien". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
2. Crowe, Dermot (26 January 2014). "The Canon a key contributor to Cork honours list". Irish Independent. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
3. O'Flynn, Diarmuid (21 January 2013). "Encouraging signs from Rebels". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
4. Hurley, Denis (27 January 2014). "Newcomers encourage JBM". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
5. Hurley, Denis (9 January 2015). "Jimmy Barry-Murphy content as new skipper Anthony Nash leads Cork home". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
6. Hurley, Denis (11 January 2016). "Second-half goals seal victory for Cork". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 11 January 2016.