1988 Railway Cup Hurling Championship

The 1988 Railway Cup Hurling Championship was the 62nd staging of the Railway Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1927.^[1] The cup began on 15 October 1988 and ended on 16 October 1988.

1988 Railway Cup Hurling Championship

Dates	15 October 1988 – 16 October 1988
Teams	4
Champions	Leinster (19th title)
Runners-up	Connacht
Tournament statistics
Matches played	4
Goals scored	18 (4.5 per match)
Points scored	100 (25 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Nicky English (2-10)
← 1987 (Previous) (Next) 1989 →

Connacht were the defending champions.

On 16 October 1988, Leinster won the cup after a 2-14 to 1-12 defeat of Connacht in the final at Casement Park. This was their 19th Railway Cup title overall and their first title since 1979.

Results

Semi-finals

Connacht v Munster

15 October 1988 Semi-final	Connacht	4-13 - 2-11	Munster	Corrigan Park, Belfast
	E Dervan 2-1, A Cunningham 1-2, M Naughton 0-4, M Connolly 0-4, J Commins 1-0, J Cooney 0-1, P Boland 0-1.		N English 1-3, S Ahearne 1-0, D O'Connell 0-3, D Byrne 0-2, M Guilfoyle 0-1, B Finn 0-1, J Kennedy 0-1.

Ulster v Leinster

15 October 1988 Semi-final	Ulster	1-08 - 1-13	Leinster	Corrigan Park, Belfast
	D Donnelly 1-2, D McNaughton 0-3, B Donnelly 0-2, C Barr 0-1.		M Corrigan 0-5, L Ryan 1-1, B McMahon 0-4, S Dalton 0-1, J O'Connor 0-1, D Kilcoyne 0-1.

Shield final

Ulster v Munster

16 October 1988 Shield final	Ulster	0-12 - 7-17	Munster	Casement Park, Belfast
	D Donnelly 0-4, P McKillen 0-3, B Donnelly 0-2, D McNaughton 0-2, B Laverty 0-1.		N English 1-7, S Ahearne 2-1, T Guilfoyle 1-3, G Fitzgerald 1-1, J Kennedy 1-1, C Bonnar 1-0, S Fitzgibbon 0-1, B Finn 0-1, P Delaney 0-1, J Heffernan 0-1.	Referee: S Brennan (Galway)

Final

Leinster v Connacht

16 October 1988 Final	Leinster	2-14 - 1-12	Connacht	Casement Park, Belfast
	M Corrigan 0-7, PJ Cuddy 2-0, C Heffernan 0-3, B McMahon 0-2, S Dalton 0-1, V Teehan 0-1.		M Connoly 0-7, A Cunningham 1-0, M Naughton 0-2, M McGrath 0-2, P Malone 0-1.	Referee: T Murray (Limerick)

Scoring statistics

Top scorers overall

Rank	Player	Club	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Nicky English	Munster	2-10	16	2	8.00
2	Mark Corrigan	Leinster	0-12	12	2	6.00
3	Michael Connolly	Connacht	0-11	11	2	5.50

Bibliography

• Donegan, Des, The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).