![\"Cork's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/4957406_3_articleinlinemobile_213403.jpg\" "\\"Cork's")
Cork’s Ben O’Connor celebrates a goal in the 2006 Munster SHC final in Thurles – the last Cork-Tipp provincial hurling final. Picture: Brendan Moran\/Sportsfile<\/p>\nIt is perhaps early in the year for bold statements but still, here goes: Cork will not be playing in the Munster SHC final at FBD Semple Stadium this year.<\/p>\n
That sounds more dramatic than it is, but while it is true, it can be broken down in rather prosaic terms following the confirmation of the regulations for this year\u2019s provincial hurling championship.<\/p>\n
Essentially, there are four possible Munster final opponents for Cork \u2013 should be it be either of the counties with whom they have home-and-away arrangements, Limerick or Tipperary, then it is the Rebels\u2019 turn to host.<\/p>\n
Pat Ryan\u2019s side famously won the 2025 decider on penalties at TUS Gaelic Grounds, while it is, somewhat incredibly, coming up on 20 years since the last Cork-Tipp final, when the Rebels triumphed in Thurles. The next-longest gap between \u2018old firm\u2019 deciders is the 15 years between the finals of 1926 and 1941.<\/p>\n
Should Cork and Clare or Waterford finish in the top two spots after the conclusion of the Munster round-robin, the game would take place at a neutral venue. Beginning in 2024, the Munster Council established a rota for finals involving the Banner County and the D\u00e9ise \u2013 Thurles was the first in line and hosted the Limerick-Clare clash that year, with P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh next.<\/p>\n
However, with Cork\u2019s home ruled out for finals involving the Rebels against Clare or Limerick, it would be back to the Gaelic Grounds for such an eventuality.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n Any other combination of the Munster counties meeting in this year\u2019s final would do so at the P\u00e1irc \u2013 unless it is between Tipperary and Limerick, in which case Thurles would be the venue, the only possibility that this year\u2019s final would take place at the GAA\u2019s birthplace.\n <\/p>\n
Saturday night\u2019s Cork-Tipp clash in the Allianz Hurling League Division 1A will be the counties\u2019 fourth successive meeting at a venue other than Thurles.<\/p>\n
Cork’s Ben O’Connor celebrates a goal in the 2006 Munster SHC final in Thurles – the last Cork-Tipp provincial hurling final. Picture: Brendan Moran\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n
Since the league clash at Semple Stadium just under a year ago \u2013 Cork\u2019s last defeat in the competition \u2013 the Munster rivals met in the final at P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh, owing to their home-and-away arrangement for knockout league ties, and were back by the Lee three weeks later for the scheduled Munster SHC round-robin game.<\/p>\n
That was of course followed by July\u2019s All-Ireland final at Croke Park \u2013 the counties have met twice on Jones\u2019s Road in the All-Ireland series, with Tipp enjoying an aggregate margin of victory of 22 points \u2013 and P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh will once again be the venue on Saturday.<\/p>\n
After two rounds of fixtures in the league, Cork and Tipp top the table on four points each and, if they were to reach the final again, it would take place in Thurles, while the provincial regular provincial championship game will be in Semple.<\/p>\n
However, any other trip there for Cork this year would mean that they would be participating in an All-Ireland quarter-final rather than taking the direct route.<\/p>\n
\n SuperValu P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh: Cork v Limerick, Cork v Tipperary, Clare v Limerick, Clare v Tipperary, Clare v Waterford, Limerick v Waterford, Tipperary v Waterford.<\/p>\n
\n TUS Gaelic Grounds: Cork v Clare, Cork v Waterford.<\/p>\n
\n FBS Semple Stadium: Tipperary v Limerick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is perhaps early in the year for bold statements but still, here goes: Cork will not be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1964,61,60,112],"class_list":["post-282206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-cork-gaa","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}