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

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]

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

Summary

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. John Maguire had the honour of scoring the first ever point 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

29 April 1888
Limerick 1–04 0-03 Louth
(HT: 0-01 - 0-03)
1Denis Corbett (gk) (c)
2Tim Fitzgibbon
3William Gunning
4Richard Breen
5John Hyland
6Thomas McNamara
7William Spain
8Pat Corbett
9Michael Slattery
10Jeremiah Kennedy
11Michael Casey
12James Mulqueen
13Malachi O'Brien
14Patrick Kelly
15Tim Kennedy
16Philip Keating
17William Cleary
18Robert Normoyle
19Pat Reeves
20Thomas Keating
21Tom McMahon
1Edward Feeley (gk)
2Pat Clarke
3John Dowdall
4Henry Fagan
5Jack Connor
6John McCrave
7Pat McGuinness
8Tom Murphy
9Edward Murphy
10Tom O'Rourke
11William Whately
12Arthur O'Hagan
13Michael Carroll (c)
14Pat Morgan
15Edward Goodman
16John Maguire
17Jim Keating
18James Campbell
19Pat McGinn
20Peter Jackson
21Tom Lavery
Substitute:
22Sam Keating

References

  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.
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