Carbery Junior A Hurling Championship

The Carbery Junior A Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the RCM Tarmacadam Carbery Junior A Hurling Championship) is an annual club hurling competition organised by the West Cork Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association and contested by the top-ranking junior clubs in West Cork, Ireland, deciding the competition winners through a group stage and knockout format. It is the most prestigious competition in West Cork hurling.

Introduced in 1925 as the West Cork Junior Championship, it was initially a straight knockout tournament. The competition went through a number of format changes since then, including the introduction of a back-door or second chance for beaten teams. The competition took on its current format in 2022, adding a round-robin group stage and limiting the number of entrants.

In its current format, the Carbery Junior Championship begins with a group stage in late summer. The 12 participating teams are divided into three groups of four and play each other in a round-robin system. The two top-ranking teams in each group proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final. The winner of the Carbery Junior Championship, as well as receiving the Flyer Nyhan Cup, also qualifies for the subsequent Cork Junior A Hurling Championship.

The competition has been won by 13 teams, 12 of which have won it more than once. Clonakilty are the most successful team in the tournament's history, having won it 18 times. Clonakilty are the title-holders, after defeating St James' by 1-17 to 0-11 in the 2023 final.

Format

Group stage

The 12 teams are divided into three groups of four. Over the course of the group stage, each team plays once against the others in the group, resulting in each team being guaranteed at least three games. Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The teams are ranked in the group stage table by points gained, then scoring difference and then their head-to-head record. The top two teams in each group qualify for the knockout stage.

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals: Two lone quarter-finals featuring the four lowest-placed qualifying teams from the group stage. Two teams qualify for the next round.

Semi-finals: The two quarter-final winners and the top two highest-placed qualifying teams from the group stage contest this round. The two winners from these games advance to the final.

Final: The two semi-final winners contest the final. The winning team are declared champions.

Relegation

The two bottom-ranked teams from the group stage take part in a playoff, with the losing team being relegated to the Carbery Junior B Hurling Championship for the following season.

Teams

2024 Teams

Qualification for subsequent competitions

The South West Junior Hurling Championship winners qualify for the subsequent Cork Junior A Hurling Championship. from 2017 to 2019, the South West finalists qualified for the county series.

Trophy

The winning team is presented with the Flyer Nyhan Cup. A native of Clonakilty, John "Flyer" Nyhan (1892-1934) was a member of some excellent Clonakilty teams which contested the county middle grade hurling final in 1912, won the county intermediate football title in 1913 and then won the prestigious South Coast Railway Shields in both football and hurling in 1914. The cup was presented for the first time in 1961.

Roll of honour

List of finals

Notes

• 1928 - An objection by Kilbrittain was upheld and a replay was ordered.
• 1940 - The first match ended in a draw: Kilbrittain 2-07, Bandon 3-04.
• 1951 - An objection by Courcey Rovers was upheld and they were awarded the title.
• 1982 - The first match ended in a draw: Barryroe 2-10, Kilbrittain 3-07.
• 1983 - The first match ended in a draw: Clonakilty 1-05, Diarmuid Ó Mathúna's 1-05.
• 1990 - The first match ended in a draw: Bandon 1-08, Argideen Rangers 0-11.
• 1999 - The first match ended in a draw: Bandon 2-21, Barryroe 6-09.
• 2000 - The first match ended in a draw: Ballinascarthy 1-13, Barryroe 2-10.
• 2001 - The first match ended in a draw: Diarmuid Ó Mathúna's 0-15, Kilbrittain 2-09.
• 2005 - The first match ended in a draw: Diarmuid Ó Mathúna's 0-14, Kilbrittain 3-05.
• 2006 - The first match ended in a draw: Barryroe 1-08, Diarmuid Ó Mathúna's 1-08.
• 2012 - The match ended in a draw and extra-time was played.

Records

By decade

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of South West Junior Hurling Championship titles, is as follows:

• 1920s: 4 for Kilbrittain (1925-26-27-28)
• 1930s: 4 for Bandon (1934-35-36-37)
• 1940s: 2 for Clonakilty (1943-44-45-46)
• 1950s: 6 for Courcey Rovers (1951-53-54-55-56-57)
• 1960s: 4 for Courcey Rovers (1964-65-66-68)
• 1970s: 3 for Courcey Rovers (1970-73-74)
• 1980s: 4 for Barryroe (1981-82-86-87)
• 1990s: 3 for Bandon (1990-95-99)
• 2000s: 3 for Diarmuid Ó Mathúna's (2001-02-05-08)
• 2010s: 3 for Clonakilty (2012-15-17)

Gaps

Top five longest gaps between successive championship titles:

• 50 years: Dohenys (1963-2013)
• 36 years: Kilbrittain (1942-1978)
• 22 years: Newcestown (1992-2014)
• 21 years: Clonakilty (1983-2004)
• 19 years: Ballinascarthy (2000-2019)

Winners and finalists

The Double

Five teams have won the South West Junior Hurling Championship and the South West Junior Football Championship in a single year as part of a hurling-Gaelic football double. Kilbrittain became the first team to win the double in 1926. Bandon are the record holders having claimed the double on four occasions - 1929, 1960, 1971 and 1975. Dohenys are the only club to have won a back-to-back double - 1958 and 1959. Newcestown (1967) and Clonakilty (1977) complete the list of double-winning teams.

Club sides Argideen Rangers, Ballinascarthy and O'Donovan Rossa also hold the distinction of being dual divisional junior championship-winning teams, however, these were not achieved in a single calendar season.

See also

• Carbery Junior A Football Championship

References

External links

• Carbery GAA website