Dave McGrath

Club

McGrath played his club hurling with the famous Redmond's team in Cork and enjoyed some success. He won back-to-back county senior championship titles with the club in 1900 and 1901.

Inter-county

McGrath first tasted success on the inter-county scene with Cork in 1901 when he lined out in his first Munster final. Clare provided the opposition on that occasion and a high-scoring game followed. At the final whistle Cork were the winners by 3–10 to 2–6 and McGrath collected a Munster winners’ medal. Cork subsequently defeated Galway and Wexford to set up an All-Ireland final meeting with London. Cork were the overwhelming favourites against a team of exiles which was made up of nine Cork men. A downpour made the underfoot conditions difficult as London settled better and Cork floundered. A goal for London with ten minutes left in the game sealed Cork’s fate and McGrath ended up on the losing side by 1–5 to 0–4.

McGrath added a second Munster title to his collection in 1902 as Limerick were overturned by 2–9 to 1–5 in the provincial decider. Galway and Dublin were later defeated as Cork booked their place in the All-Ireland final and, for the second year in-a-row, London provided the opposition. The game was played in Cork to mark the opening of the new Cork Athletic Ground. McGrath’s side made no mistake on this occasion and powered to a 3–13 to 0–0 victory. It was a huge triumph for Cork and gave McGrath an All-Ireland winners’ medal.

McGrath was still a key member of the Cork team again in 1903. That year he collected a third Munster winners’ medal as Cork defeated Waterford by 5–16 to 1–1. Cork later received a walkover from Galway before defeating Kilkenny in the ‘home’ championship decider. London provided the opposition for a third time in the proper All-Ireland final. Cork were well on top for the entire game and secured a 3–16 to 1–1 victory. It was McGrath’s second consecutive All-Ireland winners’ medal.

In 1904 McGrath and Cork were attempting to capture a third All-Ireland title in-a-row. The campaign began well with Cork defeating Tipperary to secure a fourth consecutive Munster title. A subsequent trouncing of Antrim set up an All-Ireland final showdown with Kilkenny. It was the beginning of a hugely successful era for ‘the Cats’ as Cork were heading into decline. Kilkenny won the game thanks to Dick Doyle’s first-half goal, while Pat ‘Fox’ Maher made great save at the end to help his team to a 1–9 to 1–8 defeat of McGrath’s side.

For the second time in their history Cork secured a fifth consecutive Munster title following a 7–12 to 1–4 trouncing of Limerick. It was McGrath’s fifth provincial winners’ medal also. For the second year in-a-row Cork faced off against Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final. The game was a high-scoring affair with Cork winning by 5–10 to 3–13. The game, however, had to be replayed as Cork goalkeeper Daniel McCarthy was a British army reservist and Kilkenny’s Matt Gargan had played with Waterford in the Munster championship. The game was another high-scoring one, with Jimmy Kelly scoring 5–2. A puck-out by Cork’s Jamesy Kelleher is said to have hopped over the Kilkenny crossbar. Kilkenny won the game by 7–7 to 2–9, with all seven of their goals coming in a thirty-minute spell. It was the third time in five years that McGrath had ended up on the losing side in an All-Ireland final.