History of the Sevens
(This article first appeared in the 2007 All Ireland Sevens Programme)
The very first Kilmacud All-Ireland Sevens was in 1973. A total of 28 teams entered the inaugural tournament and the last two standing were Buffers Alley of Wexford, backboned by the legendary Tony Doran and St Finbarrs of Cork, themselves stocked with All-Ireland medal holders. The Wexford men were victorious by a point and this was the first of three Wexford wins on the trot.
The Kilmacud accounts for the 1973 Sevens showed a profit on the day of £1. A very inauspicious and profitable beginning!
Rathnure assumed the Wexford mantle in ’74 & ’75, winning hard fought tournaments in the most thrilling of fashion. The 1975 final was the first to be decided on ‘penalties’ after Fayne Harriers had matched Rathnure (2-7 to 1-10) in normal time. John Quigley was the Rathnure hero, blasting the winner to the net.
Tipperary got on the Roll of Honour in 1976, Borrisoleigh beating Clare kingpins Newmarket-on-Fergus 3-8 to 3-6 in the final. The importance of the Kilmacud Crokes All-Ireland Sevens was underlined by the fact that the winners were welcomed back to their native Tipperary by blazing tar-barrels and a pipe band!
The following year Cloughbawn of Wexford captured the fourth Sevens crown for the county, but the following year Borrisoleigh took it back, winning their second title by a goal, 3-9 to 3-6.
By 1979 the All-Ireland Sevens was firmly established on the GAA calendar and word of the classic matches and wonderful entertainment on offer in Stillorgan on the Saturday before All-Ireland final day was spreading far and wide. A Francis Loughnane inspired Roscrea won that year’s final, beating Buffers Alley in one of the best finals ever seen, 7-7 to 4-13.
In 1980 the Wexford-Tipperary ownership of the Sevens was finally broken. Surprisingly the next county on the Roll of Honour was Offaly, the Kinnity club dispatching Wexford’s Cloughbawn, 6-9 to 2-4, in a one sided final. Two months previously, Offaly had stunned Kilkenny in the Leinster hurling final and this national title was a further sign of their emergence as a real hurling power.
By now the hurling giants that are Cork decided they had better get in on the act. A Middleton side, powered by the likes of John Fenton and Kevin Hennessy, beat Cloughbawn 3-10 to 2-4 in the 1980 final, retaining their crown twelve months later when they overcame Kinnity 3-10 to 1-13 in the final. Midlleton's strength was most obvious that Saturday as the Cork seniors were claiming all of their county stars in the following day’s All-Ireland SHC final against Kilkenny.
By 1983 Galway hurling was on a high. The elusive All-Ireland had been captured in 1980 and their first Sevens title was annexed the same year, a 4-8 to 2-9 victory for Sylvie Linnane’s Gort over near neighbours O’Callaghan Mills of Clare.
Centenary year for the GAA meant the 1984 All-Ireland SHC final would be staged in Thurles. This resulted in the All-Ireland Sevens being brought forward to August 18th that year. Tipperary, disappointed to lose that year’s Munster final in thrilling fashion to Cork, had some consolation when Kilruane McDonaghs took their first crown, beating Tony Doran and Buffers Alley, 1-11 to 2-5 in the final.
Cork hurlers, still smarting from their surprise loss to Galway in the 1985 All-Ireland semi-final, were to the fore again in ’85, with Fenton and Hennessy on song as Middleton beat former champs Borrisoleigh 4-5 to 2-3 in that year’s final.
Clare made their first and only breakthrough in the Sevens Roll of Honour, Feakle winning the 1986 crown, with a team containing such unknowns as Ger Loughnane! Other Feakle stalwarts included Tommy Guilfoyle and Val Donnellan.
Nine years after winning their first Sevens crown, Borrisoleigh were back in the winning enclosure. Backboned by Tipp stars Aiden Ryan, Bobby Ryan and Richie Stakelum, they overcame Mooncoin from Kilkenny, 7-13 to 2-4. Tipp had won their first Munster title in sixteen years the previous July, the Sevens win yet another sign of the county’s re-emergence.
All-Ireland champions Galway provided the All-Ireland Sevens winners the day before their triumph over Tipperary in the 1998 SHC final, when Kiltormer took their first crown.
By 1989 it was Limerick’s turn to provide winners. Patrickswell, backboned by the Kirby brothers, with Gary in great scoring form, beat Middleton 4-9 to 2-5 in the final. The following year Limerick provided finalists in Ballybrown, but they were stopped in their tracks in the 1990 final by Kiltormer. The Galway side won their second Crokes Sevens crown by shooting points in abundance. Damien Curly shot eight long range white flags from play, while Ballybrown concentrated on goals, losing out 5-2 to 2-13.
The Well were back in 1991, Patrickswell beating Waterford’s Passage West 3-6 to 1-3, with a panel that included just one Kirby, Gary, and a youthful Ciaran Carey.
In 1992 sixty-six teams from twenty seven counties competed in three separate competitions on All-Ireland Sevens Day. That year’s final will go down as one of the greatest games of Sevens hurling ever played. Na Piarsaigh of Cork faced Mount Sion of Waterford and the large attendance were treated to an exhibition of hurling. When the dust had settled Na Piarsaigh had their first title, winning on a scoreline of 5-13 to 6-9.
In 1993 Waterford made their debut on the All-Ireland Sevens Roll of Honour, when Ballygunner took the title. But that only tells half the story of that year’s tournament. By the late eighties and early nineties Ulster hurling was on a high, culminating in Antrim’s All-Ireland SHC final appearance against Kilkenny. By 1993 Down hurling had emerged from Antrim shadows and that September Ballygalget, with three Coulter brothers in their ranks, reached the Sevens final, falling bravely to Ballygunner 2-15 to 2-10.
The cup stayed in Waterford in 1994 when Mount Sion staged one of their trademark late comebacks to snatch the crown from Tipperary’s Portroe. Trailing by seven points with two minutes to go, the Waterford champions rallied for an unanswered 2-1 from play. They closed out the 6-12 to 3-14 win in extra time.
Kilkenny, acknowledged kingpins of hurling, finally got their act together in 1995. The first and only time the Cats provided the champions of the All-Ireland Sevens naturally included the genius of DJ Carey. His Young Irelands side won every game by seven points or more and in the final DJ (1-3) was upstaged by Charlie Carter’s (4-3), further example of what the cats can do when they take it seriously!
Eire Og of Nenagh were Tipperary’s standard bearers in 1996, beating home side Kilmacud Crokes in the semi-final and another Dublin side O’Toole’s, in another classic final, 4-14 to 5-6. Michael Cleary and Conor O’Donovan shone for the Nenagh men.
O’Toole’s were hoping to go one better in 1997 when they again reached the final. But once again Tipperary men stood in their way. This time Borrisoleigh, capturing their fourth title, were too strong for O’Toole’s. John McGrath became the latest player to notch a hat-trick, his three goals proving the difference in a 5-6 to 2-6 victory.
In 1998 the final pairing of Portumna and Athenry proved novel, the two Galway teams emerging from the 32-team draw and playing out a free-flowing classic, Portumna holding on to record a 3-13 to 4-8 victory in the final.
Tipperary took another stranglehold on the competition in 1999 and 200, Portroe recording their first win in ’99 after losing a couple of finals, while Borrisoleigh notched their Roll of honour leading fifth title in 2000, beating defending champions Portroe, 2-13 to 1-6 in an intense decider.
Sarfields of Cork took the 2001 title, their first and another new name was added to the trophy in 2002 when Mullinahone of Tipperary beat Clarecastle of Clare in a dramatic final, 7-11 to 4-13. With Eoin Kelly and John Leahy amongst their ranks Mullinhone had plenty of firepower, but it was Pat Croke, with four goals to his name, who stole the show.
Limerick’s Garryspillane capitalised on their senior county title by adding the Kilmacud Crokes Sevens trophy to their memorable year of 2003, while 2004 saw the emergence of today’s sparkling modern Sevens rivalry between Portumna of Galway and Mullinahone of Tipperary.
Inevitably these two teams are the ones to beat come throw-in at the start of the Sevens tournament. In 2004 Ollie Canning inspired his side to a thrilling victory over Mullinahone, a final pairing that would be repeated in 2005, with Mullinahone turning the tables in another classic, 6-7 to 0-15. Inspired by goalkeeper John Leahy, they kept the defending champions from manufacturing a green flag, striking for two themselves in the dying seconds to seal a memorable victory.
You can’t keep a good side down however and last year Portumna were back in the final again, but this time they fell agonisingly short to a stylish Erins Own, the Cork side winning for the first time in their history. As is the norm it appears now, the final was a magnificent, free flowing, high scoring match, the Cork side winning 5-8 to 3-12.
By 2006 the Kilmacud All-Ireland Sevens had graduated to forty club sides competing for the senior crown. Ten groups of four battled it out for the one play-off spot, two matches whittling the ten teams down to eight, before the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final itself.
In all Erins Own would play seven matches unbeaten on their way to the prestigious title.
Back in 1983 an All-Ireland Sevens Shield was introduced and teams from some of the traditional weaker hurling counties were invited to attend. Toureen of Mayo have led the way since ’83, winning the first ever Shield final and three more to boot, their last in 2003. Teams from as far afield as Los Angeles (1986) and London (Father Murphys 2002) have claimed the Shield and an impressive 17 teams took part in 2006, Ballyhaunis registering their first ever Shield success.
The Under 13’s All-Ireland Sevens began back in 2004 and the winners rostrum contains Durlas Og (Tipperary) who won the inaugural U-13s title and Na Piarsaigh (Cork) who are seeking the three-in-row today*. With just eight teams invited to take part in the U-13 Tournament, the Crokes Club usually look for U-12 county champions from the previous year to take part, hoping this unique competition will provide a useful build-up to the following year’s Feile. This seemed to work for Castleknock in 2006, the experience of losing two tight matches and drawing one of their group games last year obviously helped them collect this year’s historic Feile title.
* The 2007 U13 competition was won by host club Kilmacud Crokes