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. It was the first of two All-Ireland football titles for Limerick - the other coming in 1896.
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.
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.
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.
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. Jim Keating was the first player to register a score in an All-Ireland football final. In the second half, the first ever goal in a final was scored by William Spain. The Treaty men went on to win by four points. Gate receipts for the match came to £300.
Details
1 Denis Corbett (gk) (c)2 Tim Fitzgibbon3 William Gunning4 Richard Breen5 John Hyland6 Thomas McNamara7 William Spain8 Pat Corbett9 Michael Slattery10 Jeremiah Kennedy11 Michael Casey12 James Mulqueen13 Malachi O'Brien14 Patrick Kelly 15 Tim Kennedy16 Philip Keating17 William Cleary18 Robert Normoyle 19 Pat Reeves20 Thomas Keating21 Tom McMahon 1 Edward Feeley (gk)2 Pat Clarke3 John Dowdall4 Henry Fagan5 Jack Connor6 John McCrave7 Pat McGuinness8 Tom Murphy9 Edward Murphy10 Tom O'Rourke11 William Whately12 Arthur O'Hagan13 Michael Carroll (c)14 Pat Morgan15 Edward Goodman16 John Maguire17 Jim Keating18 James Campbell19 Pat McGinn20 Peter Jackson21 Tom LaverySubstitute:22 Sam Keating
References