1959 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship

All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship 1959
Championship Details
Dates
Counties
Sponsor
All Ireland Champions
Winners Dublin (18th title)
Captain Bríd Reid
Manager Nell McCarthy
All-Ireland Runners-up
Runners-up Mayo
Captain Josie Ruane
Manager PJ Hennelly
Matches played 11

The 1959 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship was the high point of the 1959 camogie season. The championship was won by Dublin who defeated surprise finalists Mayo by a 33-point margin in one of the most one-sided finals in camogie history.[1][2][3][4][5][6] The match drew an attendance of 4,000. The championship was the first to have a match televised, when a BBC television crew covered the All-Ireland semi-final between Antrim and Dublin in Belfast.

Semi-finals

Boosted by the presence of the talented Josie Ruane from Keelogues at full-back and later at centre-back, and by the interest of PJ Hennelly, who later became general manager of the Connaught Telegraph, and Gerry Bracken of Newport, editor of The Mayo News, Mayo surprised Galway in Mulranny on May 31 in the Connacht semi-final and defeated Sligo 7-2 to 0-3 in the most unusual Connacht final in camogie history at Manulla on July 5, with three goals from Peggy Coughter, two from Eileen Clarke and one each from Josie Ruane and Bridie Kilroy.

Waterford won the Munster championship for the first time with an outstanding full back Josie McNamara, who refereed the All Ireland semi-final between Dublin and Antrim, and was also a noted badminton player. With outstanding performances from Geraldine Power, Lilian Howlett and Pat Doyle, Waterford defeated Clare by 19 points in the first round of the Munster championship, then Limerick, Cork and London in the All Ireland quarter-final. Dublin beat Wexford in the lienster final.

Semi-finals

The unlikely pairing of Mayo and Waterford met in a farcical semi-final at Newport on an unplayable field. The match, the first inter-county fixture to be drawn since the 1942 final, went into extra time and Waterford were leading by three points when Eileen Clarke pounced for an equalising goal. There was a suggestion that the teams play another period of extra time but the captains refused to continue. Instead the All-Ireland final fixed for August 16 was postponed to enable a replay in Roscrea.

Waterford led 1-5 to 1-1 at half-time in the replay before a great fight-back and a last minute victory for Mayo, who had 2-2 from Eileen Clarke a goal from Peggy Coughter and a point from Josie Ruane. Mayo snatched a last-minute victory, with a long-range point from centre-back, Josie Ruane, by 3-4 to 2-6. Una O'Connor scored two goals, the first by pouncing on a bad clearance, and Kathleen Mills a third as Dublin won the All Ireland semi-final by two points from Antrim.

Final

Dublin went into the lead from the throw-in of the final, when Úna O'Connor raced through for a goal and eventually ran up a remarkable tally of 5-2. By half time Dublin led by 6-2 to 0-1, Mayo rallied briefly after the interval but Dublin continued to dominate exchanges and pile up the scores. It was late in the game before Mayo registered their only score from play, a well-taken goal by Eileen Clarke which was greeted with the greatest cheer of the evening. Agnes Hourigan wrote in the Irish Press:

Dublin’s superiority stemmed from midfield where the hard-working Annette Corrigan, Kay Mills and captain Brid Reid, who had flown back from her honeymoon to play, were always in complete control. These three laid on perfect passes for their clever forwards, who cut through the Mayo defence almost at will. Mayo seldom showed us anything of the fine form that had characterized their earlier victories. Sole exception was their captain, Josie Ruane, who did Trojan work at centre-back all through, and who was deadly accurate from frees, scoring all of her team’s points. Their lack of experience told against them and some of their players seemed over-awed by the setting and the occasion.[7]

Final stages

Dublin 3-3 – 2-4 Antrim
Mayo 3-3 – 2-4 Waterford
Mayo 3-4 – 2-6 Waterford
Dublin 11-6 – 1-3 Mayo
Annette Corrigan 0-1, Kathleen Mills 1-1, Mary O'Sullivan 2-1, Kay Ryder 2-0, Annie Donnelly 2-0, Una O'Connor 3-3 Eileen Clarke 1-0, Josie Ruane 0-3
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Nancy Murray (Antrim)
Dublin
Mayo
DUBLIN:
GK1Eithne Leech (Celtic)
FB2Betty Hughes (CIE)
RWB3Nuala Murney (UCD)
CB4Doreen Brennan (Austin Stacks)
LWB5Kay Lyons (Celtic)
MF6Bríd Reid (Austin Stacks) (Capt)
MF7Annette Corrigan (UCD) (0-1)
MF8Kathleen Mills (CIE) (1-1)
RWF9Mary O'Sullivan (Civil Service) (2-1)
CF10Kay Ryder (Naomh Aoife) (2-0)
LWF11Annie Donnelly (UCD) (2-0)
FF12Úna O'Connor (Celtic) (3-3)
(MAYO):
GK1Mary Maguire (Islandeady)  30'
FB2Margaret Kelly (Newport)
RWB3Kathleen Staunton (Islandeady)
CB4Josie Ruane (Manulla) (0-3)
LWB5Margaret Clarke (Manulla)
MF6Marcella McDonnell (Manulla)
MF7Vera McDonnell (Manulla)[8]
MF8Carmel McHugh (Manulla)  25'
RWF9Eileen Clarke (Manulla) (1-0)
CF10Bríd Moran (Newport)  16'
LWF11Teresa Hoban (Newport)
FF12Bridie Kilroy (Newport)
Substitutes:
CFPeggy Coughter (Manulla) for Moran  16'
MFRose Conway (Newport) for McHugh  25'
GKMary Daly for Maguire  30'

MATCH RULES

  • 50 minutes
  • Replay if scores level
  • Maximum of 3 substitutions

See also

References

  1. ↑ Moran, Mary (2011). A Game of Our Own: The History of Camogie. Dublin, Ireland: Cumann Camógaíochta. p. 460. 978-1-908591-00-5
  2. ↑ Report of final in Irish Press, September 14, 1959
  3. ↑ Report of final in Irish Independent, September 14, 1959
  4. ↑ Report of final in Irish Times, September 14, 1959
  5. ↑ Report of final in Irish Examiner, September 14, 1959
  6. ↑ Report of final in Irish News, September 14, 1959
  7. ↑ Report of final in Irish Press, September 14, 1959
  8. ↑ Vera Mannion obituary in Mayo News Feb 5 2008
Preceded by
All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship 1958		 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship
1932 – present		 Succeeded by
All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship 1960
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