The 1961 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 75th staging of the All-Ireland hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The championship began on 16 April 1961 and ended on 3 September 1961.
Wexford were the defending champions, however, they were defeated in the provincial championship. Tipperary won the title after defeating Dublin by 0–16 to 1–12 in the All-Ireland final.
Format
All-Ireland Championship
Final: (1 match) The two provincial representatives from Leinster and Munster made up the two final teams with the winners being declared All-Ireland champions.
Results
Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
First round
Quarter-final
Semi-final
Final
Munster Senior Hurling Championship
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
Final
Championship statistics
Scoring statistics
Top scorers overall
Rank Player Club Tally Total Matches Average1Jimmy DoyleTipperary2–142036.662Christy RingCork3-081728.503Donie NealonTipperary3-061535.00Mick BolgerWestmeath3-061543.754Andy DoyleWexford4-021427.00Oliver McGrathWexford3-051427.00Larry ShannonDublin2-081435.665Billy JacksonDublin3-041334.336Joe GillaneGalway3-00919.00J. FitzpatrickLaois3-00924.50Paddy CrokeDublin3-00933.00Billy DwyerKilkenny2-03919.00Jimmy RooneyWestmeath2-03942.25Jack ConroyLaois2-03924.50Tim FloodWexford2-03924.50Frankie WalshWaterford1-06924.50Achille BoothmanDublin0-09933.00
Top scorers in a single game
Rank Player Club Tally Total Opposition1Andy DoyleWexford4-0214Kilkenny2Christy RingCork3-0413Waterford3Joe GillaneGalway3-009TipperaryPaddy CrokeDublin3-009WexfordBilly DwyerKilkenny2-039WexfordJimmy DoyleTipperary0-099Dublin4Oliver McGrathWexford2-028DublinTim FloodWexford2-028DublinDonie NealonTipperary2-028GalwayJohn McGrathWestmeath1-058Offaly
Miscellaneous
The Munster final between Cork and Tipperary breaks all previous attendance records. An official crowd of 62,175 is the biggest ever attendance recorded at a sporting event outside of Croke Park in Dublin. An unofficial attendance, due to spectators storming the gates, meant that the crowd could have been as high as 70,000 or more. It remains a record for a Munster decider. Westmeath are the top-scoring team in the championship for the first and only (as at 2021) time in their history. They are also the first team to be the top scorers in a championship year, yet have a negative score difference. As of July 2021, the only other team to do so would be Waterford (2008).
Sources
Corry, Eoghan, The GAA Book of Lists (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005). Donegan, Des, The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games (DBA Publications Limited, 2005). Sweeney, Éamonn, Munster Hurling Legends (The O'Brien Press, 2002).
References