1939 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

1939 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Championship details
Dates	7 May – 3 September 1939
Teams	13
All-Ireland champions
Winning team	Kilkenny (12th win)
Captain	Jimmy Walsh
All-Ireland Finalists
Losing team	Cork
Captain	Jack Lynch
Provincial champions
Munster	Cork
Leinster	Kilkenny
Ulster	Not Played
Connacht	Not Played
Championship statistics
No. matches played	12
Goals total	91 (7.58 per game)
Points total	116 (9.66 per game)
Top Scorer	Jim Langton (0-21)
All-Star Team	See here
← 1938 1940 →

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1939 was the 53rd staging of the All-Ireland hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The championship began on 7 May 1939 and ended on 3 September 1939.

Dublin entered the championship as defending champions, however, they were eliminated in the provincial stages. Kilkenny won the title following a 2-7 to 3-3 victory over Cork in the thunder and lightning final.

Teams

A total of thirteen teams contested the championship, including all of the teams from the 1938 championship. Wexford re-entered the championship after a one-year absence.

Team summaries

Team	Colours	Most recent success
		All-Ireland	Provincial	League
Clare	Saffron and blue	1914	1932
Cork	Red and white	1931	1931	1929-30
Dublin	Navy and blue	1938	1938	1938-39
Galway	Maroon and white	1923	1922	1930-31
Kilkenny	Black and amber	1935	1937	1932-33
Laois	Blue and white	1915	1915
Limerick	Green and white	1936	1936	1937-38
Meath	Green and gold
Offaly	Green, white and gold
Tipperary	Blue and gold	1937	1937	1927-28
Waterford	Blue and white		1938
Westmeath	Maroon and white
Wexford	Purple and gold	1910	1918

Results

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

Meath v Westmeath

7 May 1939 First round	Meath	6-4 - 1-3	Westmeath	Páirc Tailteann

Wexford v Offaly

7 May 1939 Quarter-final	Wexford	4-7 - 1-4	Offaly	Nowlan Park

Laois v Meath

18 June 1939 Quarter-final	Laois	12-7 - 4-2	Meath	O'Connor Park

Wexford v Dublin

18 June 1939 Semi-final	Wexford	2-3 - 10-7	Dublin	Wexford Park

Kilkenny v Laois

2 July 1939 Semi-final	Kilkenny	6-9 - 1-5	Laois	Nowlan Park

Kilkenny v Dublin

16 July 1939 Final	Kilkenny	2-12 - 4-3	Dublin	O'Moore Park

Munster Senior Hurling Championship

Tipperary v Limerick

21 May 1939 Quarter-final	Tipperary	2-0 - 3-3	Limerick	Thurles Sportsfield

Cork v Waterford

25 June 1939 Semi-final	Cork	7-4 - 4-3	Waterford	FitzGerald Park

Limerick v Clare

9 July 1939 Semi-final	Limerick	5-5 - 1-1	Clare	Gaelic Grounds

Cork v Limerick

30 July 1939 Final	Cork	4-3 - 3-4	Limerick	Thurles Sportsfield

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Kilkenny v Galway

6 August 1939 Semi-final	Kilkenny	1-16 - 3-1	Galway	St. Cronan's Park

Kilkenny v Cork

3 September 1939 Final	Kilkenny	2-7 - 3-3	Cork	Croke Park
	J Phelan (2-0), J Langton (0-3), T Leahy (0-2), J O'Brien (0-1), J Kelly (0-1).		T O'Sullivan (2-1), J Lynch (1-2).	Attendance: 39,302 Referee: J Flaherty (Offaly)

Championship statistics

Miscellaneous

• Kilkenny's victory over Cork in the All-Ireland final is the fourth time that Kilkenny have beaten their great rivals by just a single point. Previous one-point wins came in 1904, 1907 and 1912. Among the attendance was the poet Louis McNeice who was visiting Dublin.

Sources

• Corry, Eoghan, The GAA Book of Lists (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
• Donegan, Des, The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).
• Horgan, Tim, Christy Ring: Hurling's Greatest (The Collins Press, 2007).
• Nolan, Pat, Flashbacks: A Half Century of Cork Hurling (The Collins Press, 2000).
• Sweeney, Éamonn, Munster Hurling Legends (The O'Brien Press, 2002).