Preparations for the 100th Irish championship are gathering pace, and all looks set for an outstanding event, provided it is permitted to go ahead, of course. The entry form does an excellent job of setting the historical context, with the full list of champions on the last page.
The lists of Irish championship players here have been updated to include the 2020 championship, and to correct various inaccuracies and glitches and to add more information. As before, the (almost) full list is available in alphabetical order and in descending order of number of championships played.
From the 1889 championship, only 13 of the 32 players are included: players who played with a handicap and who also did not qualify for the final are not included. Otherwise, all players from all championships are listed.
Some errors have been corrected. Previously “John Casey” was shown as playing in seven championships, but these championships were due to two players of the same name: John Casey of Dublin (Leinster champion in 1944) played in the championships of 1939, 1940, and 1947, while John Casey of Cork (Irish Inter-University Individual champion in 1950 (joint), 1951, and 1952 (joint)) played in the championships of 1949, 1950, 1951, and 1952 (to be confirmed on these last three).
“Demmond” from 1963 was a typo for “Desmond”, i.e., former ICU President Brian Desmond, who previously was listed as a separate player. Alan MacDonagh’s name was corrected (previously given as ‘Mc’). Capt. Butler from the 1865 championship was previously omitted due to a programming glitch. Formatting glitches were corrected in the names of Mícheál Ó Briain and Pádraig Ó Tuathail. “D. Miley” from the 1889 championship was Daniel O’Connell Miley, who also played in 1892, and these entries have been merged.
First names have been added for Liam Brady, David Colhoun, Brian Desmond, Fintan Doyle, Larry Finlay, David W. Heelan, Frank Maher, Gerry Quinn, William Rea, and Noel Skelton, as well as for most players who made their débuts in 2019. An additional initial was added for S. H. Johnston. Some spurious middle initials added to distinguish siblings have been corrected.
In all, 556 players are listed. [Note: but see update below.]
Corrections are welcome, as always.
[Update, April 13, 2021: the lists referred to above had a glitch (caused by the difference between apostrophe and straight quote mark) for all players whose name began with O’ and who played in the 2020 championship, whereby they were treated as entirely new players. Fixing this has removed five spurious players, and has moved Gerard O’Connell from joint 6th to joint 5th in number of championships played. Also, the M. J. O’Donnell listed for 1947 and the M. O’Donnell listed for 1953 and 1957 all referred to four-time Connacht champion Dr. Michael O’Donnell, and these entries have been merged. With those changes, the lists now comprise 550 names.
In addition, the lists previously gave the 1865 runner-up Edward Cronhelm as (Rev.), but this was incorrect. The player I./J. Parnell from 1865 was previously given as John Howard Parnell, i.e., the brother of Charles Stewart Parnell, but since there may be room for debate on this, the entry has been changed to “ Parnell, J./I. (John Howard?)”. A formatting issue previously caused Pádraig Ó Tuathail’s first name to be omitted, and this is now fixed. In addition, first names were added for Conor P. Finnegan, James Finnegan, Robert Noyce, and Brendan Ryan, and an extra initial was added for A. C. Leyn.]
[Update, May 21, 2021: the lists above omitted entries for 1982 for five players who finished joint 11th-15th in that championship: Colm Barry, Pat Carton, Gerard O’Connell, Clifford O’Connor, and Eddie O’Reilly. The lists have now been updated to correct these omissions. As a result, Gerard O’Connell’s rank has moved from joint 5th to joint 4th in number of championships played.
Also, “J. W. Bewley” from the 1950 championship should have been T. H. (Thomas) Bewley. The player listed as E. G. Bewley in contemporary records of the 1865 championship was referred to almost half a century later by the 1865 winner, Porterfield Rynd, as later knighted, so it seems he must have been Edmund Thomas Bewley. In addition, first names have been added for David Kennedy and Denis Mortell.]
[Update, July 7, 2021: the entry for A. J. Evens (1958) was corrected (previously given as “Evans”). First names were added for C. C. (Charles Columba) Copeland (1946), Christy Hanley (1970), Christy Russell (1981) and Joe Stewart (1946), and extra initials were added for P. A. Donagh and M. J. Tierney (both 1946).]