20th century

The first recorded Cavan county championship final was played between Cavan Slashers and Belturbet in 1908. Belturbet reportedly won the game by 2–8 to 1–3.^[4] The next recorded county competition was in 1922, and GAA records indicate that Cavan Slashers were 1922 champions.^[5] The championship was held inconsistently over the coming decades, until "hurling again vanished from the Cavan G.A.A. scene in 1954".^[4] Senior county hurling finals were not held again in Cavan, with any consistency, until the 1980s.^[4] The Cavan Senior Hurling Championship has been won once by a club from outside the county - Granard hurling club from County Longford won the title in 1950.^[6]

21st century

Mullahoran won 21 back-to-back titles in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, until 2011 when that run was ended in a defeat to Ballymachugh in the 2011 final.^[7][8] Cootehill and Mullahoran were the two main clubs in the competition during the second decade of the 21st century, meeting in the final in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017.^{[1][9][10][11]}

In the 2014 competition, Mullahoran (the defending champions) were defeated in the group stage. Cootehill won the title for only their third time ever and the first time since 1965 following a 5–7 to 1–6 defeat of Ballymachugh in a replay of the final.^{[12][upper-alpha 1]}

In 2015, Cootehill Celtic successfully defended their title, becoming champions for the 4th time. On 27 September 2015, in a final held at Kingspan Breffni Park, Mullahoran made a comeback to force a draw and a replay.^[9] Cootehill won the replayed final, held on 30 September 2015, on a scoreline of 0–7 to 0–4.^[10]

Cootehill were "fancied to defend" their title in the 2016 final,^[14] which was held on 25 September 2016.^[15] In the game, Mullahoran St Joseph's beat Cootehill Celtic by 2–7 to 2–6.^[16][17] However, Cootehill were later awarded the title (their 5th title) as Mullahoran were adjudged to have fielded an ineligible player.^{[upper-alpha 2]}

The 2020 championship was held in September 2020,^[18] involving four teams representing Cootehill Celtic GAA, Mullahoran GAA, East Cavan Gaels and Pearse Óg GAA club.^[19] Mullahoran won the 2020 final, beating Cootehill Celtic by 2–09 to 1–11.^[20] Cootehill Celtic won back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022.^[3]

Notes

Sources