Mid Cork Junior A Hurling Championship

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Mid Cork Junior A Hurling Championship
Current season or competition: 2023 Mid Cork Junior A Hurling Championship
Code	Hurling
Founded	1925; 99 years ago (1925)
Region	Muskerry (GAA)
No. of teams	9
Title holders	Ballinora (9th title)
First winner	Bride Valley (1925)
Most titles	Cloughduv (25 titles)
Sponsors	MJK Oils
Official website	Muskerry GAA

The Mid Cork Junior A Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the MKJ Oils Junior A Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Muskerry Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1926 for junior hurling teams in the Muskerry region in County Cork, Ireland.

The series of games begin in May, with the championship culminating with the final in September. The championship includes a group stage and a knockout stage which guarantees each club 2 championship matches.

The Mid Cork Junior A Championship is an integral part of the wider Cork Junior A Hurling Championship. The winners of the Mid Cork championship join their counterparts from the other six divisions to contest the county championship.

Nine clubs currently participate in the Mid Cork Championship. The title has been won at least once by ten different teams. The all-time record-holders are Cloughduv, who have won a total of 25 titles.

Ballinora are the title-holders after defeating Dripsey by 0-15 to 1-09 in the 2023 final.

Format

Group stage

The 9 teams are divided into three groups of three. Over the course of the group stage, each team plays once against the others in the group, resulting in each team being guaranteed at least two games. Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The teams are ranked in the group stage table by points gained, then scoring difference and then their head-to-head record. The top two teams in each group qualify for the knockout stage.

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals: Two lone quarter-finals featuring the four lowest-placed qualifying teams from the group stage. Two teams qualify for the next round.

Semi-finals: The two quarter-final winners and the top two highest-placed qualifying teams from the group stage contest this round. The two winners from these games advance to the final.

Final: The two semi-final winners contest the final. The winning team are declared champions.

Teams

2024 Teams

Team	Location	Colours	Position in 2023	In championship since	Championship Titles	Last Championship Title
Ballincollig	Ballincollig	Green and white	Group stage		5	1990
Ballinora	Ballinora	Green and red	Champions		9	2023
Blarney	Blarney	Red and white	Quarter-finals		13	1993
Donoughmore	Donoughmore	Black and white	Group stage		0	—
Dripsey	Dripsey	Red and blue	Runners-up	2023	1	2008
Éire Óg	Ovens	Red and white	Quarter-finals		7	1977
Grenagh	Grenagh	Blue and gold	Semi-finals	2022	11	2013
Inniscarra	Inniscarra	Blue and white	Group stage	2019	9	2020
Kilmichael	Kilmichael	Blue and gold	Semi-finals	2012	0	—

Qualification for subsequent competitions

The Mid Cork Junior A Championship winners qualify for the subsequent Cork Junior A Hurling Championship.

Roll of honour

#	Club	Titles	Runners-up	Years won	Years runners-up
1	Cloughduv	25	10	1933, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1994, 2002, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019	1929, 1944, 1949, 1953, 1961, 1963, 1965, 2004, 2012, 2016
2	Aghabullogue	16	7	1937, 1949, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1998	1938, 1940, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980, 2000
3	Blarney	13	17	1931, 1934, 1936, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1969, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1985, 1992, 1993	1939, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1955, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 2002, 2005, 2015
4	Grenagh	12	8	1958, 1966, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2012, 2013	1945, 1946, 1954, 1964, 1967, 2010, 2011, 2022
5	Inniscarra	9	14	1935, 1941, 1942, 1945, 1947, 1965, 1968, 1975, 2020	1937, 1956, 1957, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1992, 1996, 1997, 2009, 2021
	Ballinora	9	10	1928, 1929, 1982, 1996, 1997, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2023	1927, 1979, 1981, 1987, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2006, 2018, 2020
7	Éire Óg	7	8	1930, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1971, 1972, 1977	1928, 1932, 1941, 1950, 1958, 1973, 1974, 2019
8	Ballincollig	5	7	1927, 1932, 1963, 1987, 1990	1942, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1986, 1994, 2003
9	Bride Valley	2	0	1925, 1926	—
10	Dripsey	1	2	2008	2007, 2023
11	Donoughmore	0	7	—	1933, 1935, 1943, 1952, 2001, 2008, 2013
	Shournagh Valley	0	2	—	1934, 1936
	Kilmichael	0	2	—	2014, 2017
	Gleann na Laoi	0	1	—	1993

• Note: 1925, 1926, 1930 and 1931 runners-up are unknown

List of finals

Records and statistics

Teams

By decade

The most successful team of each decade, judged by the number of Mid Cork Junior A Hurling Championship titles, is as follows:

• 1920s: 2 each for Bride Valley (1925–26) and Ballinora (1928–29)
• 1930s: 3 each for Blarney (1931-34-36) and Cloughduv (1933-38-39)
• 1940s: 4 for Inniscarra (1941-42-45-47)
• 1950s: 6 for Cloughduv (1950-51-53-56-57-59)
• 1960s: 3 for Éire Óg (1960-61-62)
• 1970s: 3 each for Éire Óg (1971-72-77) and Aghabullogue (1973-74-76)
• 1980s: 6 for Aghabullogue (1981-83-84-86-88-89)
• 1990s: 2 each for Aghabullogue (1991–98), Blarney (1992–93), Grenagh (1995–99) and Ballinora (1996–97)
• 2000s: 6 for Grenagh (2000-01-03-04-05-07)
• 2010s: 7 for Cloughduv (2010-11-14-15-17-18-19)

Gaps

Top ten longest gaps between successive championship titles:

• 53 years: Ballinora (1929-1982)
• 45 years: Inniscarra (1975-2020)
• 31 years: Ballincollig (1932-1963)
• 30 years: Éire Óg (1930-1960)
• 29 years: Grenagh (1966-1995)
• 24 years: Ballincollig (1963-1987)
• 24 years: Cloughduv (1970-1994)
• 23 years: Blarney (1946-1969)
• 19 years: Ballinora (1997-2016)
• 18 years: Aghabullogue (1955-1973)

See also

• Mid Cork Junior A Football Championship

External links

• Muskerry GAA website

References