Major Plot Twist After Backlash To Cavan's Contentious Hurling Final Ticket Draw

It's hard to imagine a sporting event on this island with a greater demand for tickets in recent years than this weekend's All-Ireland hurling final.

Tickets for Sunday's All-Munster hurling final are the hottest property on the island at the moment, with Cork and Tipperary fans snapping for a chance to see their county lift Liam MacCarthy.

Cork brought an estimated 60,000 fans to their semi-final demolition of Dublin, and that many and more are chomping at the bit for tickets for this weekend's final.

Such is the demand that Cork's allocation was effectively full immediately. The Cork county board released a statement earlier this week saying:

Please note that our full allocation of tickets for the All-Ireland hurling final has been distributed and the process is now closed.

We will not be in a position to meet any further requests.

We acknowledge the desire of so many of our loyal supporters to attend this year's Final, but our allocation could only meet a fraction of the demand.

With the demand so high in the two counties involved in the final, some were miffed when Cavan GAA announced a draw for tickets to Sunday's decider.

The Cavan county board shared details of the draw, with paid tickets entering names into a hat to win tickets to the biggest game on the hurling calendar.

However, with the winner decided, it appears that a satisfactory plot twist has played out.

READ HERE: Tipperary's Liam Cahill Will Equal Hurling History In All-Ireland Final

READ HERE: Shane O'Donnell Thinks Cork Fans Are Repeating 2024 All-Ireland Mistake

The Cavan county board revealed the winner of their All-Ireland hurling final tickets draw late on Thursday night.

The winner, Sean O'Brien, is from Kilbrittain in west Cork.

Big congratulations to our deserving winner of the All Ireland Hurling Final Tickets, Seán O'Brien — a builder from @kilbrittaingaa in West Cork! Wishing him and his family an amazing day at Croke Park this Sunday as they cheer on the Rebels and thanks for entering our draw. pic.twitter.com/0SlBIQGMio

— Official Cavan GAA (@CavanCoBoardGaa) July 17, 2025

Pictured on the Cavan county board social media pages in a Cork half-zip, O'Brien is a fitting winner, given his affiliation.

It was a surprising twist after all the discussion about whether a county uninvolved in the final should be holding a draw for 10 tickets.

After the plot twist was revealed, the hurling community found the funny side of Cavan's unusual hurling final tickets draw.

Cavan County Board sitting on this information all day getting torn to pieces https://t.co/4iq9niOsSd pic.twitter.com/Amzg3CcEez

— Michael Lavery (@MichaelLavery98) July 17, 2025

What an end to the day 😂 👏🏼 https://t.co/5sv5KGEN2O

— Ellen Blake (@Ellen_blake92) July 17, 2025

Delicious plot twist 🤣👏 https://t.co/l0wzBAlwQS

— Paul Fitzpatrick (@moefitzpatrick) July 17, 2025

All's well that ends well, and there will presumably be 10 more Cork fans in the crowd in Croke Park.

The race for the most in-demand GAA tickets of recent memory will continue right up to the hours before throw-in this weekend.

Throw-in for the All-Ireland hurling final is at 3:30pm on Sunday.