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 M Donnelly & Co. (who has been a sponsor since 1996).

The All Ireland Poc Fada Finals take place on the Saturday of the Irish August Bank Holiday each year (since 2005). For 2014 the date is 2 August. The starting time is 11:30 (On the 2.5 km course the Boys Under 16 final begins first, followed by the Camogie Final with the Senior Final following thereafter on the 5 km course).

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

Tournaments

Seniors Final - An Corn Setanta (The Setanta Cup)

The 12 competitors competing in this category qualify as the 4 Provincial champions, the 4 Provincial 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).

An Corn Setanta ("The Setanta 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) - An Corn Cualigne (The Cooley Cup) & An Corn Craobh Rua (The Red Branch Cup).

Shared between the pairing drawn prior to the competition as the Pair returning the least number of combined pucks for the course. Record holders still to be clarified! (This competition has been discontinued)

Camogie Final - (The Camogie Poc Fada Cup)

There are 7 competitors in the Ladies event, 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 - An Corn Sean Og Mac Seáin (The Sean Og Mac Seáin 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 only once when the 2011 Under 16 champion (Cillian Kiely of Offaly) successfully retained the All Ireland title in 2012.

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 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.

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 2004,2005,2006,2007,2008

2011,2012,2013,2014,2015

Ger Cunningham Cork 7 1984 to 1990
Michael Shaughnessy Galway 3 1994 to 1996

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

§ 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 2.5 km 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 also 5 km.

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 2.5 km (1½ 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.[1]

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

Boys U16 Poc Fada since 2007

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

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

References

  1. ↑ http://www.gaa.ie/content/documents/publications/annual_reports/Annual_Report_2007_Part2_Pg29_58_100111094518.pdf

External links

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