Analysis: Thousands witnessed the first and last time Meath and Kilkenny would meet in a Leinster Senior football final - but the match almost didn't happen
The reign of Leinster Senior football champions can last a calendar year, a few years if a county goes on a good run, or for a record-breaking 14 years as we have seen with Dublin in recent times. But holding a provincial title for only a few minutes is certainly unconventional, as Meath proved over a century ago.
It’s 1911. The population of Ireland is 4.3 million, the RMS Titanic has been launched and the Lost City of the Incas, Machu Picchu, has just been rediscovered. In GAA terms, the association was still finding its feet at a national level, the Leinster Council was in its infancy and the administration of Gaelic games and its rulebook was neither as stringent or convincing as it is today. All of these factors led to the shortest tenure of champions in GAA history.
In the 1911 Leinster Senior football championship, Kilkenny beat Wexford and Kildare to reach the Leinster final. Meanwhile, Meath beat Laois and Dublin, whom they were firm underdogs against. The Dundalk Democrat newspaper reported after the semi-final: 'Wonders will never cease! Who would think for a moment that Dublin, the conquerors of Louth and Navan would go under to Meath? But this happened on Sunday at Jones’ Road when Meath, playing a dashing game defeated Dublin in sensational style.’ The condensed and hectic fixtures calendar as we know today was never an issue in the 1911 Leinster football championship. The quarter finals were played in July, the semi-finals in August and the final took place in October, on Sunday 22.
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The Leinster Senior football final generated huge excitement on both sides and it was described as ‘the chief topic of discussion’. Special trains ran from Waterford, Navan and Kingscourt to take supporters to Jones’ Road - a stadium that was still in private ownership as the GAA scrambled the money together to purchase it two years later and rename it Croke Memorial Stadium. The match was to be a double header, with a hurling championship tie between Meath (represented by Dunboyne) and Westmeath being played after the football match.
Throw-in was scheduled for 1.45pm. The stadium had thousands of spectators ready to witness the first and last time that Meath and Kilkenny would meet in a Leinster Senior football final. But the match almost didn’t happen. With the Meath team on the field and the referee ready to start the game, there was no sign of the Kilkenny team. After waiting over half an hour for them to show up, the game was deemed a walk over, it was awarded to Meath and they assumed the title of Leinster champions.
A short time later, the Kilkenny contingent, thought to have been delayed by their train, arrived onto the field somewhat disorganised. Some players ran onto the field with one boot on and a large number of them ‘did not divest themselves in the ordinary trousers’. Kilkenny declared themselves ready to play and after referee M.F. Crowe consulted with the Leinster Secretary Walter Hanrahan, it was decided to proceed with the match. The Meath team outlined that they would play the match but would do so under protest as they had already been deemed winners. The referee insisted that the match take place and that any issues would rest with the Leinster Council afterwards.
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The match began at 2.35pm and was played under bad weather conditions owing to heavy rain and a consistent downpour during the last 20 minutes of it. Writing in the Kilkenny People: ‘The game was not a good one. To judge the merits of the teams in such bad weather would be absurd’. Meath led in the early stages with a goal in the first minute but Kilkenny quickly responded and took the lead afterwards. The score at half-time was Meath 1-1 Kilkenny 2-2. The second half was a more one-sided affair. Meath failed to score and ‘played a stubborn game’. Match reports described them as being ‘badly placed, as is proved by the fact that they repeatedly collided with one another’. Kilkenny held out and had a ‘deserved victory’.
Meath officials objected to the match result at subsequent Leinster Council meetings and insisted that the original decision of a walkover be upheld, as was decided when Kilkenny did not show up at the appointed throw-in time. Their ‘narrow minded and childlike’ pleas were unsuccessful.
1911 was a successful year for Kilkenny in Leinster as they also won the Senior hurling title. As regards their challenge for All-Ireland titles that year, Antrim beat them in the football semi-finals and the Kilkenny hurlers were declared All-Ireland champions when Limerick gave them a walk over in the final. Awarding walkovers to opponents was a common occurrence in the GAA’s early days and was not the frowned upon media frenzy as we have recently become acquainted with. 1911 would be Kilkenny’s last Leinster Senior football championship title. They appeared in another final in 1922 when they were beaten by Dublin and vanished from Leinster Senior finals thereafter. The last time Kilkenny participated in the Leinster Senior football championship was in 1982.
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The 1911 Leinster Senior football final was professed as being clouded by ‘several regrettable incidents’. The controversy is a real shame considering the novel pairing of a Meath vs Kilkenny final. Newspapers rejoiced that these were ‘two teams who at the beginning of the season were considered not to have the remotest chance of appearing in the final. The uncertainty of football was never better illustrated than in this year’s Leinster championship.’
114 years later, we look forward to welcoming a dose of uncertainty in the Leinster football championship final, as new champions will be crowned for the first time since 2010.
This article is published as part of a series of articles by Siobhán Doyle to celebrate Leinster GAA’s 125th year.
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
