8
All-Ireland finals between two sides drawn from the same province since the back door was opened in the Senior Hurling Championship in 1997 - five all-Munster and three all-Leinster (we are including Galway, given their participation in the Leinster Championship).
For the record, the previous instances were in 1997 (Clare v Tipperary), 1998 (Offaly v Kilkenny), 2000 (Offaly v Kilkenny), 2013 (Clare v Cork), 2015 (Kilkenny v Galway), 2020 (Limerick v Waterford) and 2021 (Limerick v Cork).
Since 1997, the hurling final has been contested by counties which share a border on 10 occasions. In football in the same period, there have been only three such ties, in 2003 (Tyrone v Armagh) and 2007 and 2009 (both Kerry v Cork).
7
Years in succession that the Liam MacCarthy Cup will winter in Munster. The last time this occurred was in 1954, with Waterford, Tipperary and Cork the three winners in that period (1948-54).
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3
All-Ireland finals Cork have lost since last winning it in 2005 (2006 against Kilkenny, 2013 against Clare in a replay and 2021 versus Limerick).
Three is also the number of All-Ireland senior finals in which Clare manager Brian Lohan played (1995 v Offaly, 1997 v Tipperary and 2002 against Kilkenny).
17
Matches in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship which Johnny Murphy has refereed in his career. Sunday’s final will mark his 18th.
The Limerick man is a member of the Ballylanders club and has also taken charge of the All-Ireland minor and under-20 finals in 2018 and 2021 respectively, the Leinster final in 2021 and the All-Ireland club final in 2023.
Linesmen on the day will be Michael Kennedy from Tipperary and Liam Gordon from Galway, who is also the standby referee.
Dublin’s Chris Mooney will be the sideline official.
Murphy’s umpires will be Micheal Meade, James Hickey and Jimmy Barry Murphy (all from Ballylanders) and Andy Dooley (Garryspillane).
4-62
What Patrick Horgan has scored in this year’s championship, making him comfortably the top scorer on either side ahead of Sunday.
Horgan’s tally consists of 1-46 from frees, four 65s and a goal from a penalty.
Clare’s leading marksman is Aidan McCarthy with 1-53 (0-41 from frees and one 65).
The leading scorer from play on either side is the Banner’s David Fitzgerald, who has nabbed 2-18. For Cork, Alan Connolly (4-10), Darragh Fitzgibbon (0-22) and Shane Barrett (2-16) are tied as leading scorers from play.
14,101
Attendance at the 1995 Munster semi-final between the teams, which Clare won en route to Munster and All-Ireland titles in Limerick.
While the ticket scramble is reaching new heights in both Clare and Cork this year – even the big screen viewing party is sold out on Leeside – it was not always thus, of course.
In his definitive account of the sport in the 1990s ‘Hurling: The Revolution Years’, Denis Walsh of this parish wrote: “The Cork crowd would have been dissuaded from travelling by a mixture of disdain for Clare and an indifference to a Cork team clearly going nowhere. The match, though, was played in the Gaelic Grounds, only a couple of miles from the Clare border. Where was the Clare public? At home. Disbelieving.”
61
Previous championship meetings between Cork and Clare, with the Rebels leading 40-16 while there have been five draws.
The teams have met twice this year, with the Banner winning both, by three points in the league and two in the Munster Championship.
Interestingly, the only other occasion they met in the All-Ireland final, in 2013, was last time the big day did not feature a reigning provincial champion.
82,006
The overall capacity for the final. According to Ard Stiurthoir Tom Ryan’s last annual report, last year the county allocations were 57,449, with the remainder divvied out under a variety of headings. A sample: Local residents were allocated 200 tickets, sponsors 1,200, jubilee teams 78, match officials and National Referees Panel 148 and Ard Comhairle and Past Presidents 974.
