Dr Harty Cup history brought to life in new publication launched in the Horse & Jockey

By Michael Dundon

Since its inauguration in 1918, the Dr Harty Cup, the prized trophy for Munster colleges senior hurling success, has been the most prestigious gong in post-primary schools hurling, even outweighing the Hogan Cup awarded to the All-Ireland colleges champions.

READ NEXT: All-Ireland winning Tipperary hurling captain and former Miss Ireland welcome their second child!

Tipperary schools and colleges links with the competition date back to the very start. Initially proposed as a competition to encourage the development of Gaelic games in the Premier County, it was felt that there were not enough schools there at that time to justify it, so it was put forward as a Munster competition, and it has since been a major attraction in the Munster hurling calendar.

Tipperary’s attachment to it was there from the beginning with Rockwell College the first winners in 1918, beating Christian College Cork in the final, and the last three champions were schools from the county, Thurles CBS, the current holders, Nenagh CBS last year and Cashel Community School in 2023. For Nenagh and Cashel they were their first successes.

Thurles CBS tops the Premier County winners list with nine titles, followed by Rockwell College with five, Our Lady’s Templemore with two and Abbey CBS, Nenagh CBS and Cashel Community School with one each. 

Three Tipperary schools are through to this year’s knock-out stages after the pre-Christmas round-robin series, Thurles CBS, Nenagh CBS and Our Lady’s Templemore.

St Flannan’s College, Ennis, who top the honours list with twenty two wins, have always had a big north Tipperary influence with players from the division backboning many of their teams and the impact of Fr Seamus Gardiner and the late Bishop Willie Walsh, also an integral part of the St Flannan’s success story.

The story of the Dr Harty Cup is one that had to be told and last year the Munster College Council commissioned nationally acclaimed GAA historian and McNamee Award winner Liam O'Donnchue, The Voice of Semple Stadium, to pen the history of the competition. 

Himself a former Harty hurler with Thurles CBS in the late sixties, and currently Vice President of Thurles Sarsfields and a man with an impeccable track record in chronicling GAA histories, the project was in safe hands.

Liam has scripted his club’s history in two volumes, Tom Semple and the Thurles Blues, Semple Stadium Field of Legends, and his latest offering is a comprehensive and worthy enhancement of the story of Gaelic games, well deserving of the acclaim accorded it at its launch in the Horse and Jockey Hotel last week. 

Running to over six hundred pages, with a magnificent collection of photographs to embellish the stories being told, it also has a series of testimonials from former players giving a unique insight into how their participation in the Harty Cup competition framed their careers.

Tipperary greats feature prominently with Tony Wall and Donie Nealon of the All-Ireland winning teams of the fifties and sixties, joined by the latest generation of county stars, Robbie Ryan, Thurles CBS, Darragh McCarthy, Nenagh CBS and Oisin O'Donoghue of Cashel Community School recalling their Harty experiences. 

Likewise Tadgh de Burca of Waterford, Andrew O'Shaughnessy and Declan Hannon of Limerick, Colin Ryan of Clare, Eamon Cregan, Limerick, Mark Foley, Cork, Jamesie O'Connor, Clare and Sean Og O'hAlpin, Cork.

At the launch there was acknowledgement too of the exceptional input into the production of Ed Donnelly, Moycarkey, former Tipp PRO and currently Munster Council Communications Officer.

Declan Fitzgerald, Chairman of Comhairle Iarbhunscoileanna na Mumhan, said that for over a century the Dr Harty Cup has captured the imagination of generations of schoolboys across the province. 

The competition has long been a rite of passage, not just in sporting terms but as a formative experience in the lives of those lucky enough to take part. 

Anyone who has ever been involved will speak not just of the fierce battles on the field but of the camaraderie that flourishes off it. 

The book is a celebration of all that, a rich tapestry of stories, photographs, results and reflections that honour both the history and the heart of the competition, he added.

Munster Council Chairman, Tim Murphy, and Professor Vincent Cunnane, representing TUS, sponsors of the Harty Cup and the publication of the book, also spoke.

Liam O Donnchu, the author, having thanked all who helped in its production, said that the Harty Cup competition is a success story and many hurling stars have come to the fore through the hectic Harty cauldron. All participant Munster counties can point to Harty success within their borders as the catalyst for inter-county hurling glory.

He added that Harty teams are imbued with the idealism of youth, an inherited gra for hurling, aware of their school traditions and are not, for the most part, encumbered by the restrictions of tactics and strategies, giving them the freedom to hurl with gay abandon, natural skill and youthful exuberance.

The formal launch, chaired by Damian Lawlor of RTE, a former Kilruane MacDonaghs player, was followed by a chat involving Sean Og O hAlpin (North Mon and Cork), Andrew O'Shaughnessy (St Colman’s and Limerick), Colin Ryan (St Flannan’s and Clare) and Monsignor Christy O'Dwyer (Abbey CBS and Sean Treacys) in which they recalled their Harty Cup experiences.

Dr Harty Cup, Corn an Artaigh 1918 to 2025 is available in all the main book stores.

READ NEXT: IN PICTURES: See the incredible celebrations after Silvermines brilliant county triumph!