# 1966 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The 1966 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 80th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county hurling tournament. The championship ran from 15 May 1966 to 4 September 1966.
Tipperary entered the championship as the defending champions, however, they were beaten by Limerick in the Munster quarter-finals.
The All-Ireland final was played on 4 September 1996 at Croke Park in Dublin, between Cork and Kilkenny, in what was their 14th meeting in the final overall and a first meeting in the final in 19 years. Cork won the match by 3–09 to 1–10 to claim their 20th All-Ireland title overall and a first title in 12 years.
Cork's Seánie Barry was the championship's top scorer with 3-23. Cork's Justin McCarthy was the choice for Texaco Hurler of the Year.

## Championship statistics
### Miscellaneous

* Tipperary's defeat by Limerick in the first round of the Munster championship was the team's first defeat since the provincial decider of 1963. It also put an end to Tipperary's hopes of capturing a third All-Ireland title in-a-row.
* Prior to the Munster semi-final between Limerick and Cork there was a minute's silence in memory of Dr. Rogers, Bishop of Killaloe, who died the previous day.
* In the Leinster semi-final Wexford's Willie Murphy scores a remarkable own-goal for Dublin.

## Roll of Honour

* Tipperary - 21 (1965)
* Cork - 20 (1966)
* Kilkenny - 15 (1963)
* Limerick - 6 (1940)
* Dublin - 6 (1938)
* Wexford - 4 (1960)
* Waterford - 2 (1959)
* Galway - 1 (1923)
* Laois - 1 (1915)
* Clare - 1 (1914)
* London - 1 (1901)
* Kerry - 1 (1891)

## Top scorers
### Season

| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
| 1 | Seánie Barry | Cork | 3-23 | 32 | 5 | 6.40 |
| 2 | Paddy Molloy | Offaly | 4-14 | 26 | 3 | 8.66 |
| 3 | Eddie Keher | Kilkenny | 0-22 | 22 | 3 | 7.33 |
| 4 | Tony Dooley | Offaly | 6-0 | 18 | 3 | 6.00 |
| 5 | Colm Sheehan | Cork | 4-4 | 16 | 5 | 3.20 |
| 6 | Éamonn Cregan | Limerick | 3-6 | 15 | 2 | 7.50 |
| 7 | Liam Walsh | Carlow | 2-8 | 14 | 2 | 7.00 |
| 8 | John Mitchell | Carlow | 3-2 | 11 | 2 | 5.50 |
| 8 | Dick Shannon | Wexford | 1-8 | 11 | 2 | 5.50 |
| 10 | Justin McCarthy | Cork | 2-4 | 10 | 5 | 2.00 |
| 10 | Willie Gorman | Offaly | 2-4 | 10 | 3 | 3.33 |
| 10 | Pat Cronin | Clare | 1-7 | 10 | 2 | 5.00 |
| 10 | Frankie Walsh | Waterford | 0-10 | 10 | 2 | 5.00 |

### Single game

| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Opposition |
| 1 | Éamonn Cregan | Limerick | 3-5 | 14 | Tipperary |
| 2 | Paddy Molloy | Offaly | 3-4 | 13 | Westmeath |
| 3 | Tony Dooley | Offaly | 4-0 | 12 | Carlow |
| 4 | Colm Sheehan | Cork | 3-0 | 9 | Kilkenny |
| 4 | Liam Walsh | Carlow | 2-3 | 9 | Offaly |
| 4 | Seánie Barry | Cork | 1-6 | 9 | Clare |
| 4 | Seánie Barry | Cork | 1-6 | 9 | Waterford |
| 4 | Eddie Keher | Kilkenny | 0-9 | 9 | Offaly |
| 9 | Paddy Molloy | Offaly | 1-5 | 8 | Carlow |
| 9 | Dick Shannon | Wexford | 1-5 | 8 | Dublin |
| 9 | Pat Cronin | Clare | 1-5 | 8 | Cork |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Goalkeeper | County | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Ollie Walsh | Kilkenny | 1 |

## Soirces

* Corry, Eoghan, The GAA Book of Lists (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
* Donegan, Des, The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).
* Nolan, Pat, Flashbacks: A Half Century of Cork Hurling (The Collins Press, 2000).