1887 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final

The 1887 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the first All-Ireland Final and the culmination of the 1887 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland. Limerick were the winners.[1] It was the first of two All-Ireland football titles for Limerick - the other coming in 1896.[2]

1887 All-Ireland
Senior Football Championship final
Limerick, champions
Event1887 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Date29 April 1888
VenueBeech Hill, Donnybrook, Dublin
RefereeJohn Cullinane (Tipperary)
1889

In 2005, a gold medal won by the final's man-of-the-match Malachi O'Brien fetched €26,500 (three times its guide price) at London auction house Sotheby's. It was believed to be the oldest All-Ireland football medal in existence. The Limerick Leader purchased the medal and said it intended to display it in Limerick.[3]

In June 2023 another medal, awarded to Limerick midfielder Jeremiah Kennedy, was sold at a Dublin auction for €32,000. The victorious Limerick team did not receive their medals until 1910.[4]

Plaque commemorating the match close to Beech Hill, Dublin

Match

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Summary

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The 21 per side final was held at O'Byrne's field at Beech Hill, Donnybrook, which was then the home of Dublin club Benburbs.[5][6]

Louth was represented by county champions Dundalk Young Irelands, with the Limerick side composed of members of Limerick Commercials, who had won the Limerick county championship.

Playing with the aid of the wind in the first half, Louth led by two points at the interval. Jim Keating was the first player to register a score in an All-Ireland football final. In the second half, the first ever goal in a final was scored by William Spain.[7] The Treaty men went on to win by four points. Gate receipts for the match came to £300.

Details

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29 April 1888
  Limerick 1–4 0–3   Louth
(HT: 0–1 – 0–3)
1 Denis Corbett (gk) (c)
2 Tim Fitzgibbon
3 William Gunning
4 Richard Breen
5 John Hyland
6 Thomas McNamara
7 William Spain
8 Pat Corbett
9 Michael Slattery
10 Jeremiah Kennedy
11 Michael Casey
12 James Mulqueen
13 Malachi O'Brien
14 Patrick Kelly
15 Tim Kennedy
16 Philip Keating
17 William Cleary
18 Robert Normoyle
19 Pat Reeves
20 Thomas Keating
21 Tom McMahon
1 Edward Feeley (gk)
2 Pat Clarke
3 John Dowdall
4 Henry Fagan
5 Jack Connor
6 John McCrave
7 Pat McGuinness
8 Tom Murphy
9 Edward Murphy
10 Tom O'Rourke
11 William Whately
12 Arthur O'Hagan
13 Michael Carroll (c)
14 Pat Morgan
15 Edward Goodman
16 John Maguire
17 Jim Keating
18 James Campbell
19 Pat McGinn
20 Peter Jackson
21 Tom Lavery
Substitute:
22 Sam Keating

References

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  1. ^ "'All Ireland Glory' – new book is a must for all GAA fans". Western People. 14 December 2005.
  2. ^ "Family ready to auction off rare first All-Ireland medal". Irish Independent. 4 March 2005.
  3. ^ "1887 All-Ireland medal fetches €26,500 at auction". BreakingNews.ie. 16 November 2005. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016.
  4. ^ "Limerick All-Ireland medal sells at auction". Limerick Post. 9 June 2023.
  5. ^ "History-1972". Kilmacud Crokes. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  6. ^ Mulligan, Fr.John (1984). The GAA in Louth - An Historical Record.
  7. ^ "Spain, William". Dictionary of Irish Biography. October 2009.