All-Ireland Poc Fada Championship

The All-Ireland Poc Fada Hurling & Camogie Championships is an annual tournament testing the skills of Ireland's best hurlers and camogie players. Poc Fada is Irish for "long puck". The championships are sponsored by M Donnelly & Co. (who has been a sponsor since 1996).

The All Ireland Poc Fada Finals take place on the Saturday of the Irish August Bank Holiday each year (since 2005).

The Senior Hurling Final starts at "An Fhána Mór", Annaverna, County Louth, competitors must puck a sliotar with a hurley to the top of Annaverna Mountain, "An Céide," and onwards to "Carn an Mhadaidh"' and after a short break continue down to "An Gabhlán," finishing back at "An Fhána Mór," Annaverna. The whole course measures 5 kilometres (3.1 mi).

The 12 competitors competing in this category qualify as the 4 Provincial champions, the 4 Provincial runners-up, the current champion, the 2013 "All Star" goalkeeper and 2 invitationals (in the past competitors have come from USA, Europe and South Africa).

An Corn Setanta ("The Setanta Cup") is awarded to the player who takes the lowest number of pucks. Ties are broken by the distance by which the player's last puck crosses the finish line.

Shared between the pairing drawn prior to the competition as the Pair returning the least number of combined pucks for the course. Record holders still to be clarified! (This competition has been discontinued)

There are 7 competitors in the Ladies event, if there is an invitational place/wildcard on offer there may be 8. Presently the current champion, the 4 Provincial qualifiers, a qualifier from Co. Louth and a qualifier from Co. Armagh (The latter 2 counties being the hosts). In the past the invitational/wildcard has gone to the London Cumann.

There are currently only 4 participants in this event, 1 from each of the 4 provincial qualifiers. If the situation occurs where the winner of the All Ireland final is eligible to compete at the same age group the following year he will be asked to return and defend his All Ireland title. To date this has happened only once when the 2011 Under 16 champion (Cillian Kiely of Offaly) successfully retained the All Ireland title in 2012.

The tournament was founded in 1960 by Fr. Pól Mac Sheáin and the Naomh Moninne club based in Fatima, Dundalk, Louth, with the first All Ireland event taking place in 1961 Limerick man Vincent Godfrey the first winner, out of 16 hurlers invited. The competition went off the calendar after 1969 before returning in 1981 with 12 competitors.

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