Fáilte chuig gaa.ie - suíomh oifigiúil CLG

Hurling

hurling

Liam MacCarthy Cup gets All-Ireland Final makeover

The Liam MacCarthy Cup is prepared in a workshop prior to the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Final between Limerick and Waterford at Croke Park in Dublin.

The Liam MacCarthy Cup is prepared in a workshop prior to the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Final between Limerick and Waterford at Croke Park in Dublin.

By John Harrington

The Liam MacCarthy Cup will be shining bright on All-Ireland Final day.

As happens before every All-Ireland Final, Liam spends a day with a silversmith who repairs any minor damage and polishes it until it gleams.

The base of the Cup also comes in for special attention as the individual names of the previous year's All-Ireland winning team, in this case Tipperary, are inscribed onto it.

Whether Declan Hannon or Conor Prunty raises it on Sunday, they'll be getting their hands on a Liam MacCarthy Cup that will look like new, but it has in fact been given to the All-Ireland SHC winners since 1992.

It is a replica of the original Liam MacCarthy Cup which was first presented in 1923 to the 1921 All-Ireland winners (the delay was due to the political turmoil of the era) and is now on pemanent display in the GAA Museum in Croke Park.

Liam MacCarthy himself was born in London to Irish parents and was prominent in GAA circles in the city serving as county board treasurer and later as its chairman.

He was also very active politically, rising to vice-president of the Gaelic League and strongly supporting the cause of Irish nationalism.

In 1922 he approached the GAA offering to commission a trophy for the winners of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, at a personal cost of £50.

The Liam MacCarthy Perpetual Challenge Cup, to give it it's full title, was wrought by Edmund Johnson Jewellers of Grafton Street and modelled on an ancient drinking vessel, known as a mether.