How teams fared after 1970
The 13 participants experienced contrasting fortunes
HOW DID the 13 club teams contesting the 1970 Senior hurling championship fare in the years that followed?
BUFFERS ALLEY: Didn’t get back to the final until 1973, but went on to add a superb ten titles between 1975 and 1992, along with the ultimate honour – All-Ireland Club glory in 1989.
SHAMROCKS: That county final was the last game they played, before the amalgamation of the Enniscorthy town clubs took place. A team fielded as Shamrocks/St. Aidan’s in the 1971 Senior championship, before the re-named Rapparees reached the final at their first attempt in 1972. Six years later, the Rapps brought the last top-flight championship to the town.
RATHNURE: The beaten semi-finalists of 1970 bounced back with a fabulous four-in-a-row of titles from 1971 to 1974, and added another two before the decade was over. Remain out on their own on top of the roll of honour with 20 championships, seven clear of their nearest rivals. The most consistent club in the history of Wexford GAA.
ST. MARTIN’S: That semi-final appearance was their third since 1965, but they dropped out of Senior ranks after the 1972 campaign. Pipped by a point by Cloughbawn in the following year’s Intermediate final, they returned to the top grade after beating Crossabeg-Ballymurn comprehensively in the 1977 decider.
OULART-THE BALLAGH: It was only their second year up from Intermediate in 1970, and it took the club some time to recover from the upset caused by Mylie Ryan’s horrific injury. Contested the county finals of 1974 and 1975, after beating the ‘big two’ of Buffers Alley and Rathnure in the penultimate round. Defeating both in the same year proved an impossible task, though, but the refusal of the players of that era to give in undoubtedly inspired the next generation to claim an incredible 13 titles between 1994 and 2016.
GERALDINE O’HANRAHANS: The titleholders of 1966 were in the early stages of a downward slide. Left Senior ranks after 1973, but returned following a replay win over Oylegate-Glenbrien in the 1975 Intermediate final. Haven’t made an impact since a three-game saga with Oulart-The Ballagh in the 1982 quarter-final, and last played Senior in 1983.
FAYTHE HARRIERS: The seventies proved a generally frustrating decade, losing semi-finals in 1971, 1973 and 1976 before falling to Rathnure in a second replay of the 1979 final. Eventually bridged the 16-year gap to their previous title with a sensational last-minute win over Buffers Alley in 1981.
FERNS ST. AIDAN’S: The beaten finalists of 1969, they stunned holders Buffers Alley with a one-point victory in 1971, only to lose the semi-final that followed to Enniscorthy District by five points. Were down to Intermediate by 1974, and won that title five years later.
BALLYHOGUE/DAVIDSTOWN: This shortlived three-year amalgamation had started on a high in 1968 when they ran Buffers Alley to two points in the semi-final. Went their separate ways after 1970, with Ballyhogue winning the 1971 Junior championship while Davidstown-Courtnacuddy lost a controversial Intermediate semi-final to Adamstown, the eventual title winners.
DUFFRY ROVERS: Made their maiden voyage into Senior hurling in 1970. Stayed for another two campaigns before dropping back to Intermediate in 1973, and won that championship at the expense of under-age partners Marshalstown in 1978.
LIAM MELLOWS: Football with Castletown was always the priority for a group who played in Senior hurling ranks from 1968 through to 1970, beating Horeswood in the first rounds of ’68 and ’69 respectively but not making further progress. Were drawn to meet Shamrocks/St. Aidan’s in 1971 but dropped out, and by 1972 they were back in the Gorey District Junior championship, losing the final to a Naomh Eanna club just two years in existence.
HORESWOOD: Intermediate champions in 1961 and Senior runners-up two years later, 1970 was the club’s last campaign at the highest level and they haven’t been back since. Came close twice in the eighties, losing the Intermediate finals of 1982 and 1986 to HWH-Bunclody and Monageer-Boolavogue respectively.
KILMORE/RATHANGAN: Remained united in Senior ranks in 1971 and 1972, before reverting to Intermediate as part of a re-structuring programme in 1973 that saw four teams relegated. Lost the District Intermediate finals of 1974 and 1975 before an amalgamation that started at Senior level in 1961 finally broke up after another loss – this time to Glynn-Barntown in the 1976 District Junior decider. In that year, Kilmore also fielded an independent Junior hurling team, and in 1977 St. Anne’s won the county title in that grade as a single parish unit.