1904-06 A run that began with Kilkenny’s first All-Ireland title, beating Cork in the 1904 final and again in 1905. Then, some strange anomalies kicked in. By the time Kilkenny had won the 1905 All-Ireland (in 1907), they had already completed two games of the 1906 championship. The Leinster final hadn’t been played before the winners were scheduled to meet Antrim in the All-Ireland semi-final. Kilkenny were nominated. Although they defeated Antrim, their subsequent defeat by Dublin lost them both the provincial title and a shot at three-in-a-row as Dublin took their place in the All-Ireland final. Go figure

1911-13 Kilkenny’s only three-in-a-row; again a run mired in technicalities. The 1911 All-Ireland final against Limerick was to be played in Cork and, although bad weather made the pitch unplayable, Limerick insisted the match went ahead. A compromise offer to switch the game to Thurles was rejected so the GAA awarded the final to Kilkenny. Although they had worn the colours before, the Kilkenny team had been presented with black and amber jerseys by John F Drennan as their official strip for the first time before the aborted match. After beating Cork in 1912 and Tipperary in 1913, the jerseys were deemed sacred. As the donor of those blessed items, Drennan was presented with a specially struck gold medal and a photograph of the 1913 team

1932-34 Eight All-Ireland finals in a decade arguably made Kilkenny the greatest team during the golden era but three-in-a-row still eluded them. They defeated Clare by a goal in the 1932 final and Limerick in 1933 after a classic in front of a record crowd. They met Dublin in the 1934 Leinster final, pulling off the greatest comeback of their history, hitting three goals in the last five minutes to overturn an eight-point deficit. A Dublin free took the game to a replay and Kilkenny were finally beaten

1974-76 A similar story in the 70s as Kilkenny contested another eight finals between 1969 and 1979, winning five. After losing the 1973 final to Limerick, they were merciless when the teams met again in 1974, easing home by 12 points. Galway arrived for the 1975 final with a promising reputation but froze as Kilkenny held them scoreless for 22 minutes while hitting 1-8 themselves. They looked indomitable as they eased to a league title in 1976 but Wexford inflicted a stunning 17-point defeat on them in the Leinster final, their heaviest defeat in a Leinster final since 1896

1982-84 Kilkenny started their run with a stroke of luck as Matt Ruth slipped a goal to beat Offaly in the Leinster final while the Offaly backs claimed Liam Fennelly’s pullback had already crossed the endline. The underdogs tag stuck against Cork in the All-Ireland final when Noel Skehan made some heroic saves and Christy Heffernan hit 2-3. Kilkenny made no switches and no substitutions. The perfect ambush. The same again in 1983. Skehan won his ninth All-Ireland medal (one as sub) against Cork that year but Brian Cody’s absence at full-back against Wexford in 1984 was crucial as a Tony Doran goal with two minutes left flattened them

1992-94 Kilkenny bit hard again as underdogs in the 1992 final against Cork, winning by five points and added a second title against Galway in 1993. Lying in wait were Offaly, confident of success. They listened to Eddie O’Connor’s acceptance speech from the Hogan Stand in 1993 about Kilkenny deserving an all expenses paid foreign holiday and wondered if they were still hungry. With no new blood to boost the team, Kilkenny looked stale. Offaly duly scalped them in 1994 by four points

2002-04 Brian Cody’s third tilt at three-in-a-row as player and manager. After victory against Clare in 2002 and an excellently controlled win over Cork in 2003, the team were running low on fuel. Defeat by Wexford in the 2004 Leinster final sent up a flare. More signs of distress were evident as Clare took them to a replay in the quarter-final. They hung on against Cork till half-time before fading. Cork’s eight-point win was Kilkenny’s heaviest defeat in an All-Ireland final for 40 years

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